Tennessee wing Dalton Knecht earned SEC Player of the Week honors in his first week in the Southeastern Conference, the league announced Monday.
⛹️♂️WK1 | SEC Mens Basketball Weekly Awards
PLAYER: Dalton Knecht@Vol_Hoops x #SECMBB pic.twitter.com/3w0y0EwRvM
— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) November 13, 2023
Knecht hit the ground running in his Tennessee career. After impressing in both exhibition games, Knecht averaged 20.5 points, four rebounds and one assist in his first two regular season games.
The 6-foot-6 perimeter player had a strong first game against Tennessee Tech but truly erupted onto the scene with a great performance in the Vols’ 80-70 win at Wisconsin. Knecht tallied 24 points, five rebounds and two assists in 36 minutes against the Badgers.
More From RTI: What Tennessee Basketball’s First Closing Time Lineup Tells Us
Not only was Knecht an electric scorer in each of his first two games but he was an efficient scorer. The Northern Colorado transfer shot 14-of-26 (54%) from the field, three-of-10 from three-point range and 10-of-12 at the charity stripe.
While there was plenty of buzz around Knoxville about Knecht during the offseason, the super senior’s skills and production are just now reaching the greater college basketball world. Knecht is projected as a first round pick in The Athletic’s latest NBA mock draft after being nonexistent on any NBA mock drafts before the season.
Knecht and Tennessee return to the court on Tuesday night when they host Wofford at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center. The non conference matchup is the Vols’ only game this week before traveling west to Honolulu for three games at the Maui Invitational next Monday through Wednesday.
