Tennessee star Dalton Knecht is one of 15 players that landed on the official Wooden Award ballot for the 2023-24 season on Saturday morning.
The Wooden Award is given annually to the nation’s top men’s college basketball player and Knecht is one of the top candidates to earn the most sought after individual college basketball award. Knecht is one of four SEC players on the ballot alongside Alabama’s Mark Sears, Kentucky’s Antonio Reeves and Auburn’s Johni Broome.
The complete list also includes North Carolina’s R.J. Davis, Kansas’ Hunter Dickinson, Purdue’s Zach Edey, Duke’s Kyle Filipowski, Dayton’s DaRon Holmes II, Marquette’s Tyler Kolek, San Diego State’s Jaedon LeDee, Kansas’ Kevin McCullar Jr., UConn’s Tristen Newton and Houston’s Jamal Shead.
Knecht currently has the second best odds to win the award according to the betting markets but is a distant second behind Purdue’s Zach Edey. The 7-foot-3 center is the reigning winner and has been dominant again this season averaging 24.7 points, 11.7 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game.
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In comparison, Knecht is averaging 20.7 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game this season. The 6-foot-6 wing has been better against top competition this season and particularly in SEC play where he’s averaging 24.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game.
Edey has been more consistent and has made a much bigger impact on the defensive end of the court while Knecht is the nation’s best three-way scorer and has four scoring performances better than Edey’s best.
Tennessee had high hopes for Knecht after landing the Northern Colorado transfer this offseason but even head coach Rick Barnes didn’t expect this type of season. It was Tennessee’s exhibition win over Michigan State that made Barnes believe that Knecht might have another gear to his game.
“I think the biggest moment was, I said it after the exhibition game against Michigan State,” Barnes said. “One, he played harder than he’d ever played and practiced defensively. And then when he made that dunk, I’m like, whoa. Because I hadn’t seen that either.”
Knecht is looking to add to his player of the year resume this afternoon in the Vols’ regular season finale against Kentucky.
