9d ago basketball Edit

Tennessee star Dalton Knecht picked No. 17 by Lakers in 2024 NBA Draft

Tennessee guard Dalton Knecht (3) celebrates a three point basket against Purdue during the second half of the NCAA tournament Midwest Regional Elite 8 round at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Sunday, March 31, 2024. (Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK)

Ryan Sylvia • VolReport

Assistant Managing Editor

Born in Knoxville, Tenn. and a graduate of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Covering football, men's and women's basketball, baseball, softball and recruiting for VolReport.

Tennessee basketball has produced a number of NBA players in its history with a recent spike under Rick Barnes.

Now, Dalton Knecht enters the mix of players at the next level after a standout season with the Vols.

He was selected with the No. 17 pick of the 2024 NBA Draft by the Lakers on Wednesday night.

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This is the highest pick since Dale Ellis went No. 9 in 1983 to the Mavericks. Higher selections also includes Bernard King at No. 7 to the Nets in 1977 and Tom Boerwinkle at No. 4 to the Bulls in 1968.

Knecht was far off draft radars heading into his final season of college eligibility but catapulted his way toward the top of the board in his lone season in Knoxville. He finished as SEC Player of the Year and was a finalist for Naismith Trophy.

He was named a consensus All-American and took home the Julius Erving Award that goes to the college basketball small forward of the year.

Knecht finished the 2023-24 season with averages of 21.7 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. This came on 45.8% shooting from the field and 39.7% on 3-pointers.

He also played at Northern Colorado for two seasons after beginning his career at Northeastern Community College in the JuCo ranks.

In his final season of eligibility, Knecht was a key piece of Tennessee’s team that has an argument to go down as the best in school history. The Vols claimed the SEC regular season title and made an Elite Eight run for the second time ever.

Knecht had memorable performances during the regular season including a late outburst against Auburn to secure a win at home.

In just one year, he goes down as one of the best players in school history.

In the NBA, teams are looking at Knecht’s proven scoring ability as a sure bet. They’ll want him to stretch the floor with his shooting and get to the line on drives.

Defensively, he’ll have to grow but he showed the willingness to develop in this area under Barnes.

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