Tennessee basketball takes SEC POY, DPOY, All-Conference selections home
Tennessee basketball won the SEC regular season crown after going 14-4 during the 2023-24 conference slate.
This was largely in thanks to the dominant play by the stars of the Vols. Three of these contributors were recognized in multiple ways with SEC hardware.
Here's which Tennessee players won awards.
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SEC Player of the Year - Dalton Knecht
Dalton Knecht is the first Tennessee player to earn SEC Player of the Year since Grant Williams won it in back-to-back seasons in 2018 and 2019. Knecht is the 14th player in program history to be named player of the year.
He averaged 24.8 points per game and scored 30-plus points seven times. Knecht reached the 40-point mark in Tennessee's most recent match against Kentucky, as well.
Knecht shot 50.8% field goal shooting but was even more productive on the road. He averaged 43.0% from three-point range in true road games and sparked Tennessee comeback wins at Georgia and Vanderbilt with 36 and 32 points, respectively.
SEC Defensive Player of the Year - Zakai Zeigler
Vols point guard Zakai Zeigler took home SEC Defensive Player of the Year honors after leading his team to the No. 3 adjusted defensive efficiency in the country according to KenPom.
Zeigler produced 1.9 steals per game in his junior season. He notched a steal percentage of 3.5% which was in the top 100 players in the country and third in the conference.
Standing at just 5-foot-9, Zeigler is now the shortest player to ever win the award. Tremont Waters and Tyler Ulis both previously won the award at 5-foot-10.
Zeigler is the second Vol to ever win, as well. Yves Pons took home the hardware in the 2019-20 season. The award has been given out every year since the 2003-04 season.
All-SEC First-Team - Dalton Knecht, Zakai Zeigler
On top of their Player and Defensive Player of the Year selections, Knecht and Zeigler also brought in All-SEC First-Team honors.
This is the first time both players have made the team.
All-SEC Second-Team - Jonas Aidoo
Vols center Jonas Aidoo also was recognized for his season. He was named to the All-SEC Second-Team.
He averaged 12.1 points, 7.6 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game on 53.3% shooting.
SEC All-Defensive Team - Zakai Zeigler, Jonas Aidoo
Due to their defensive efforts, Tennessee also landed a pair of defenders on the All-Defensive team.
Both Zeigler and Aidoo made the cut.
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