Dalton Knecht leads ESPN's list of the 'best of the best' transfers in college basketball

Dalton Knecht on Thursday headlined ESPN’s list of the “best of the best” transfers in college basketball this season. The wing from Northern Colorado came in ahead of Kansas forward Hunter Dickinson, Memphis forward David Jones, Arizona guard Caleb Love and Texas guard Max Abmas and others.

Knecht is averaging 20.2 points per game this season, shooting 48.1% from the field and 39.1% from the 3-point line. He’s currently in a stretch of scoring 25 or more points in seven of his last eight games. 

“A surefire first-team All-American,” ESPN’s Jeff Borzello wrote, “Knecht has been one of the elite scorers in men’s college basketball. Averaging (20.2) points and shooting 39.1% from 3, the former Northern Colorado wing had a five-game stretch in late January that saw him average 31 points per game.”

Dalton Knecht has scored 25 or more points in seven of his last eight games

Knecht scored 28 at Mississippi State on January 10 to start his current run. He had 36 at Georgia in his next outing, scored a season-high 39 against Florida on January 16 and scored 25 against Alabama. He had 32 at Vanderbilt, 31 at home against South Carolina and 16 in the win at Kentucky Saturday night. 

Knecht on Wednesday night in No. 6 Tennessee’s 88-68 win over LSU scored 27 points while adding seven rebounds, six assists, three blocks and two steals. The six assists are a new season high while the three blocks matched a season high. The seven rebounds came one short of the season-high eight he had against Florida in January.

After grabbing his seven rebounds against LSU, Tennessee coach Rick Barnes told Knecht he could’ve had 11. 

“And that’s a fine line,” Barnes said, “because you’ve got a guy like that who has a knack for scoring. And when we do run some isolation plays, which we did because we need him to do that, with his back to the basket. And he’s going have to make the right read out of it as opposed to trying to be overly aggressive.”

Up Next: No. 6 Tennessee vs. Texas A&M, Saturday, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN

Knecht had five assists — his previous season high was four — in his first 10 minutes against LSU. He became the first player since LSU’s Ben Simmons in 2015 with at least 27 points, seven rebounds, six assists, three blocks and two steals in a game.

He’s also the first Tennessee player to go for at least 20 points, five rebounds, five assists and three blocks in an SEC game in at least 19 seasons. And only two other former Vols did it in non-conference play, with Grant Williams hitting those numbers in the 2018-19 season after Armani Moore did so in 2015-16.

Knecht scored 20 or more points for the 10th time in his 22 games at Tennessee, including seven of the last eight. He has scored 25 or more in seven of Tennessee’s nine SEC games while shooting 42.1% from the 3-point line in conference play.

“I think it’s obvious,” LSU coach Matt McMahon said after his team’s loss at Tennessee,  “(Knecht has) turned himself into a top-10 NBA pick.”