KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – University of Tennessee standout Dalton Knecht is the Tennessee Sportswriters Association (TSWA) Men’s Basketball Player of the Year, as announced Thursday.
Knecht collected 17 of the 18 votes, winning the award in near-unanimous fashion. Players from Tennessee schools across all levels of college basketball are considered for the distinction.
A fifth-year guard, Knecht turned in one of the finest seasons in UT, SEC and Tennessee state history. He averaged 21.7 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game, while shooting 45.8 percent from the floor, 39.7 percent beyond the arc and 77.2 percent at the line.
The SEC Player of the Year, Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year and Riley Wallace Transfer of the Year, Knecht won the league scoring title, finishing eighth nationally. A consensus First Team All-American, he was a finalist for both the Naismith Trophy and the Wooden Award.
A native of Thornton, Colo., Knecht scored 35-plus points six times, a program single-season record and the most of any Division I player in the nation. He capped his career with 37 points against third-ranked Purdue in the Elite Eight, setting a program single-game NCAA Tournament scoring record and clinching NCAA Midwest Region All-Tournament status.
The four-time SEC Player of the Week and two-time USBWA National Player of the Week, Knecht placed third among all Division I players with eight 30-point shootings and co-fifth with 13 25-point outings. His 780 total points put him fifth in Division I, as well as No. 13 on the SEC’s single-season leaderboard and second on UT’s such list.
Knecht helped Tennessee to a 27-9 (14-4 SEC) record, an outright SEC regular season championship and the second Elite Eight bid in program history.
Drew Stutts of Freed-Hardeman, the NAIA national champion, won TSWA Men’s Basketball Coach of the Year. Additionally, as announced Wednesday morning, Tennessee’s Rickea Jackson claimed TSWA Women’s Basketball Player of the Year plaudits and Middle Tennessee State’s Rick Insell earned TSWA Women’s Basketball Coach of the Year recognition.
