Rick Barnes can't wait to use Dalton Knecht's NBA Draft jacket in recruiting
Dalton Knecht opted for an all-black Gucci suit for the NBA Draft Wednesday night in New York. He wore a black shirt and a black bowtie with a thick necklace full of diamonds around his neck, with an oversized ‘DK’ diamond pendant.
The inside of the jacket, though, was full of color.
It was lined in Tennessee orange, with Knecht’s name and No. 3 on the back. To the left were three banners listing both individual and team accomplishments from his breakout season with the Vols. On the right side was a Power T, Tennessee’s Tri-Star state flag logo and the ‘Tennessee Vols’ word mark.
When Rick Barnes saw it, he knew he had to get a picture with Knecht showing off all the details.
“We were in the back room there and I told him, I said, hey man, you’re going to have to take that jacket off and show the back,” Barnes said Thursday during an appearance on ‘Josh & Swain’ on WNML-FM in Knoxville. “He showed everybody the inside pockets there, that area.”
The interior lining showed an SEC banner that included ‘Player of the Year’, ‘First Team All-SEC,’ ‘Newcomer of the Year’ and ‘Regular Season Champions.’ There was another banner noting Knecht was a consensus First Team All-American and another listing his Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award from the Basketball Hall of Fame.
“I said, man, you got to take that jacket off and we’re going show that jersey too,” Barnes said. “I said we’re going to use that when we recruit. So we did that and he was great about it.”
Knecht was picked by the Los Angeles Lakers with the No. 17 pick in the first round Wednesday. He became the eighth Tennessee player drafted during the Barnes era, dating back to the 2019 draft, and the fourth first-round pick.
Barnes and Tennessee assistant coach Rod Clark — it was Clark who recruited Knecht out of the NCAA Transfer Portal — attended the draft with Knecht and sat at his table in the draft room at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. He said he went because Knecht didn’t give him much choice.
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“If I let you read the text, I had to go,” Barnes told reporters on Friday. “Dalton really called me and told me, he said, coach, it would mean a lot to me if you would come, it really would. And I said you don’t have to say anymore. I’ll be there.”
Barnes got the picture he was looking for before the night was over. Knecht stood in the middle, holding the back of the jacket, while Barnes held one side and Clark held the other.
What Knecht wished he could get is more time at Tennessee.
“He is so proud to have spent a year here with us,” Barnes said. “And he said it to me (Wednesday) night, he said, coach, I wish I could have been in Knoxville for four years, five years. He just said, I love Tennessee, I love the fans there.
“He told me, he said, I want people to know that I, even though I spent one year there, I feel and know that I’m a Volunteer for Life.”
The details in Knecht’s jacket drove the point home.
“It’s exciting to see that dream come true for him,” Barnes said, “to be there when he had his name called.”
