The 2023-2024 SEC Player of the Year resides in Knoxville.
As announced by the SEC on Monday afternoon, Tennessee guard Dalton Knecht is the recipient of the SEC Player of the Year award and earned a spot on the First Team All-SEC roster after a tremendous lone season on Rocky Top. Just about 30 minutes after the award was officially announced, Knecht met with the media in Knoxville to discuss his reaction to the award. Knecht spoke about the work that it’s taken to get here, the obstacles he had to climb, how valuable his teammates’ help was, and how there is still more on the table for the Vols to accomplish this season.
In addition to Knecht, Tennessee also had associate head coach Justin Gainey speak with the media after Knecht. Gainey talked about Knecht’s award and gave some background into what the year has been like from his perspective but also praised Tennessee’s other two award winners from Monday.
Tennessee guard Zakai Zeigler took home three awards in the SEC Defensive Player of the Year, First Team All-SEC, and SEC All-Defensive team. Gainey spoke about just how impressive Zeigler’s season was considering his ACL injury happened one year and 12 days before his awards were dished out on Monday. Tennessee also had Jonas Aidoo land on the Second Team All-SEC roster as well as earning a spot alongside Zeigler on the SEC All-Defensive team. Gainey talked about his longtime relationship with Aidoo and how he has seen him grow during his three years in Knoxville.
- Dalton Knecht: SEC Player of the Year, First Team All-SEC
- Zakai Zeigler: SEC Defensive PotY, First Team All-SEC, All-SEC Defensive Team
- Jonas Aidoo: Second Team All-SEC, All-SEC Defensive Team
More from RTI: Trio of Vols Land on All-SEC Teams After SEC Regular-Season Championship Season
Tennessee will head west to Nashville at the end of the week for the SEC Tournament. With a first-round bye, the Vols’ first game is set for 1:00 p.m. ET on Friday in the quarterfinals. Tennessee would continue to keep the 1:00 p.m. ET time slot on Saturday and Sunday if they were to make it that far in the tournament.
Check out both interviews from Knoxville on Monday below:
Tennessee G Dalton Knecht
Tennessee AHC Justin Gainey
