The Tennessee basketball program added another sharpshooting guard to its roster this week, as Northern Colorado transfer Dalton Knecht has signed with the Volunteers.
As a senior this past season, Knecht (pronounced: connect) averaged 20.2 points per game to earn the Big Sky Conference scoring title. The 6-6 guard also averaged a team-best 7.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. Knecht shot 47.9 percent from the field in 2022-23, a top-five clip among Big Sky players in that department. He also connected on 38.1 percent of his 3-point attempts last season, good for third in the Big Sky, while making a league-high 77 triples.
Hailing from Thornton, Colorado, Knecht started each of Northern Colorado’s 32 games during the 2022-23 campaign, averaging 35.3 minutes per game. He earned second-team All-Big Sky honors and also was selected to the NABC All-District 9 Second Team.
“Dalton is just a terrific story of a guy whose hard work has enabled him to steadily improve his game,” Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes said. “He’s grown nearly a foot since he started playing high school ball. And as he’s grown, he’s expanded his skill set as well. He’s a proven scorer and was one of the top offensive producers in the portal, so he immediately gives our team a boost in offensive firepower.”
Knecht in 2022-23 scored in double figures in 28 of 32 games. He scored at least 20 points 18 times last season and showcased his explosiveness with a trio of 30+ point efforts.
“Beyond being a high-level shooter, his ability to put the ball on the floor and attack downhill with athleticism really drew our attention,” Barnes added. “He’s another guy who comes from a great family, and we’re excited to welcome them into our Volunteer family.”
Knecht holds the potential to become an offensive catalyst within Tennessee’s offense, especially from 3-point range. Overall in two seasons at Northern Colorado, he shot 37.3 percent from beyond the arc and averaged 14.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists spanning 67 games.
Prior to his stint at Northern Colorado, Knecht spent two seasons at Northeastern Junior College in Colorado, garnering first-team NJCAA All-America honors as a sophomore in 2020-21 while averaging 23.9 points per game.
Before enrolling at NJC, he attended Prairie View High School in Henderson, Colorado.
In addition to incoming freshmen Cameron Carr, J.P. Estrella and Cade Phillips, Knecht joins a crop of new Vols that also includes fellow transfer portal additions Jordan Gainey (USC Upstate) and Chris Ledlum (Harvard).
-UT Athletics
