Dalton Knecht named Associated Press First Team All-American
Dalton Knecht added another All-American honor on Tuesday, named First Team All-American by the Associated Press. Knecht was joined on the First team by Purdue’s Zach Edey, North Carolina guard RJ Davis, UConn’s Tristen Newton and Houston’s Jamal Shead.
To become a consensus All-American, Knecht would also have to make the National Association of Basketball Coaches and United States Basketball Writers Association All-American teams. The Sporting News last week named Knecht a First Team All-American, with he and Edey as the only unanimous selections.
Knecht, the 6-foot-6 Northern Colorado transfer wing has starred for Tennessee this season. He averaged 21.1 points per game this season and averaged 25.5 per game in SEC play, helping him win SEC Player of the Year and First Team All-SEC honors last week.
Knecht is the 25th All-American in Tennessee basketball program history and the just the fourth since 2000. Grant Williams was the last All-American for the Vols in 2018-19, becoming just the third player in program history to earn consensus first-team All-American honors, joining Bernard King and Dale Ellis.
Up Next: No. 2 Tennessee vs. No. 15 Saint Peter’s, Thursday, 9:20 p.m. ET, TNT
Tennessee (24-8), the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament’s Midwest Region, faces No. 15 Saint Peter’s (19-13) on Thursday (9:20 p.m. ET, TNT) at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C.
Knecht scored a career-high 40 points in Tennessee’s 85-81 loss to Kentucky on Saturday afternoon at Thompson-Boling Arena.
In 31 games during the regular season, he scored 25 or more points 10 time this season, 30 or more points seven times, 35 or more points five times and 39 or more points four times, with three 39-point games to go with the 40 he scored against Kentucky.
Knecht averaged 21.4 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists for the season while shooting 47.4% from the field and 40.5% from the 3-point line.
He averaged 24.8 points in true road games, shooting 50.8% from the field and 43.0% from the 3-point line. He had 13 or more points in all 11 road games this season and had 22 or more in eight road games and 32 or more in three road games.
Dalton Knecht’s 25.5 points per game in SEC play led the nation in conference play
Knecht’s 25.5 points per game in SEC play made him the league’s highest-scoring player over the last 22 seasons. He was also the highest scoring player in conference play for any Division I team this season and was the highest scoring player from any Power 6 conference since 2019-20.
His 36 points at Georgia on January 13 and 39 points against Florida on January 16 made him the first SEC player with back-to-back 35-point games since Shaquille O’Neal in 1991.
Knecht’s six straight games with 25 or more points between January 10 and January 30 — 28 at Mississippi State, 36 at Georgia, 39 vs. Florida, 25 vs. Alabama, 32 at Vanderbilt and 31 vs. South Carolina — made him the first player to do so since Devan Downey in 2010.
