Northern Colorado transfer Dalton Knecht came out of nowhere to become one of college basketball’s best wing in his super senior season. College basketball guru’s and the most diehard fans knew Knecht but few watched more than his highlights before he transferred to Tennessee for his final college season.
But Knecht is on everyone’s radar now. Twelve games into his final college season, Knecht has skyrocketed up the Wooden Award odds.
The Wooden Award is honored annually to the nation’s best college basketball player. Days after Christmas, Knecht has the fifth best odds to win the sport’s most prestigious award coming in at +3000 according to FanDuel.
Despite having the fifth best odds, Knecht is a long shot to win the award. That’s due to reigning Wooden Award winner Zach Edey having a dominant start to the season. The Purdue big man is +105 to win the award while Kansas’ Hunter Dickinson is +270. That’s where the major drop off occurs with Duke’s Kyle Filiposki coming in at +2000 and Michigan State’s Tyson Walker at +2500.
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Knecht has the best odds of any SEC player with Texas A&M’s Wade Taylor IV being the next closest with +9500 odds (20th).
Through 12 games, Knecht is averaging 15.7 points on 45.5% shooting from the field and 38% shooting from three-point range to go along with 4.3 rebounds per game.
The 6-foot-6 wing has been particularly effective in big games, scoring 24 and 21 points respectively in wins over Wisconsin and Illinois and 37 points in a loss at North Carolina.
Knecht exits the Christmas break coming off his first poor stretch of his Tennessee career. Over the last three games, Knecht has totaled just 15 points. In the nine games prior, Knecht averaged 19 points per game. Getting Knecht back on track is extremely important for the Vols in their quest to win the SEC regular season title.
