A special season gets rewarded.
Tennessee guard Dalton Knecht has officially been named a finalist for the Wooden Award, which is handed out annually to the best player in college basketball. Knecht has already taken home SEC Player of the Year honors after averaging over 25 points in conference play.
FINALIST • @WoodenAward
DK is one of five remaining candidates for the John R. Wooden Award, given to the national player of the year
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— Tennessee Basketball (@Vol_Hoops) April 2, 2024
Knecht is joined as a finalist by North Carolina’s R.J. Davis, Purdue’s Zach Edey, Connecticut’s Tristen Newton and Houston’s Jamal Shead.
A transfer from Northern Colorado, Knecht transformed Tennessee this year with his elite scoring. The Volunteers had needed someone like him for a couple of seasons now, and Rick Barnes found him in the portal to held advance to his first ever Elite Eight at Tennessee. Unfortunately for the Vols, they ran into Zach Edey and Purdue over the weekend and came up just short of the school’s first ever Final Four berth.
Knecht’s season won’t soon be forgotten, however. He put up one of the best individual seasons we’ve ever seen in Knoxville, putting him alongside of names like Dale Ellis, Bernard King, Allan Houston, Chris Lofton and Grant Williams.
Knecht’s 780 points this season lands him second on the single-season scoring list all-time for Tennessee, trailing only Alan Houston.
Overall for the year, Knecht averaged 21.7 points per game. That coming even with a bit of a lull in December as he fought back from an ankle injury. He finished shooting over 45 percent from the floor, hitting 39.7 percent of his chances from three-point range.
Knecht finished the season ranked eighth nationally in points per game. He scored over 35 points in six games this season.
The 6-6, 213 pound guard came to Tennessee to develop defensively and prove he could be a big time scorer at the top level. He certainly did that, and in the process he transformed himself into a likely lottery pick in this summer’s NBA Draft.
Edey has been the odds on favorite all season long, and he appears set to take home his second straight Wooden Award. The official announcement will come on April 12th.