Santiago Vescovi on Dalton Knecht: 'At times it just felt like he had superpowers'

Maybe it was Dalton Knecht’s 40 points against Kentucky on Senior Day. Or the 39 against both Florida and Auburn. Or the 37 at North Carolina, 37 in the Elite Eight, the 36 at Georgia or the 32 at Vanderbilt. 

Maybe it was the 28 points that put everyone on notice in the exhibition win at Michigan State or the 24 at Wisconsin to back it up two weeks later.

Regardless, the only way Santiago Vescovi could explain Knecht was superhuman. 

“I could tell right away, to be honest,” Vescovi said during a press conference this week with the Golden State Warriors, “I think everybody on the team could (tell) he was going to be a really good player.

“To be honest, at times it just felt like he had superpowers. Like he was our superhero.”

Dalton Knecht making NBA Summer League debut Saturday

Knecht turned his Tennessee Basketball superpowers into the No. 17 overall pick in last week’s NBA Draft, selected in the first round by the Los Angeles Lakers.

When he makes his NBA Summer League debut, it will be a doubleheader with his former teammate. 

Knecht and the Lakers play the Sacramento Kings in the first game of the California Classic on Saturday in San Francisco, scheduled for a 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time start on ESPN. Vescovi, who is on the Warriors’ Summer League roster, faces the Miami Heat at 6:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.

“His ability to focus once he gets his shot up,” Vescovi said of Knecht, “it doesn’t matter as long as you don’t touch him or touch a ball, it doesn’t matter what you do around him. Like he doesn’t get distracted. And we always felt like he was going in and most times. More times than not, they will go in. 

“It was really fun. And he’s a great teammate, too. He’s a great guy and I’m looking forward to seeing him.”

Knecht was Tennessee’s lone draft pick from its class of three fifth-year seniors, but all three are getting NBA opportunities. Josiah-Jordan James signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Indiana Pacers in the days following the draft, before Vescovi was added to the Warriors Summer League roster.

Santiago Vescovi averaged 10.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists at Tennessee

Vescovi started a Tennessee record 144 games (out of 149 career games) over the last five seasons. He averaged 10.3 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists with the Vols, shooting 39.2% from the field and 37.2% from the 3-point line. 

He had a career year in 2021-22, averaging 13.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 31.2 minutes per game, shooting 41.3% from the field and 40.3% from three. He made 102 3-pointers during his junior season, joining Chris Lofton as the only Tennessee players to make 100 or more threes in a single season.

Vescovi averaged 12.5 points per game in 2022-23, but his numbers dropped to 6.3 points last season, shooting a career-low 36.8% from the field and 32.6% from three.

He was part of a Sweet 16 and Elite Eight team at Tennessee and won SEC championships in 2022, in the SEC Tournament, and last season, winning the SEC regular-season title. 

Vescovi had a pre-draft workout with Golden State, helping lead to the Summer League opportunity.

“What I’m trying to do at this point,” Vescovi said, “is just pretty much show who I am. I think like a lot of teams have a lot of film on me and everything. They know everything about everybody pretty much. 

“But just being able to show again who I really am, just be a good teammate, have fun with the guys that we’re going to play with. And I think I’m a winner to be honest. I think that’s one of the biggest things. Being able to win a lot of games is going to matter and just helping every single way I can to that winning.”