Vols Dalton Knecht Named SEC Player of the Year

(utsports.com) KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Dalton Knecht of the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team is the 2023-24 SEC Player of the Year, while Zakai Zeigler is the SEC Defensive Player of the Year, as announced Monday afternoon by the league office.

Both Knecht and Zeigler also received First Team All-SEC plaudits, while Jonas Aidoo collected Second Team All-SEC distinction. Zeigler and Aidoo were both named among the five SEC All-Defensive Team selections.

This is the third time in the last 43 seasons (1981-2024) multiple Tennessee players earned First Team All-SEC status, joining 2018-19, 2013-14 and 2007-08. This is also the third time during that span three Volunteers received first-, second- or (now defunct) third-team accolades, alongside the 2018-19 and 2007-08 campaigns.

“I am thrilled for Dalton, Zakai and Jonas,” Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes said. “Each of them contributed significantly to our team winning the regular season championship in the best league in the country. All three are so deserving of these honors based off their excellent play throughout the year.”

A fifth-year guard, Knecht turned in one of the finest regular seasons in SEC history. He averaged a conference-best 21.4 points per game, along with 4.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists per contest, while shooting 47.4 percent from the field and 40.5 percent beyond the arc. The four-time SEC Player of the Week and two-time USBWA National Player of the Week, who became the first SEC competitor with back-to-back 35-point games since LSU’s Shaquille O’Neal in Feb. 1991, recorded 24.8 points per game in his 11 road outings as a Volunteer, notching 22-plus points in eight of them.

In league play, Knecht tallied a dazzling 25.5 points per game, the second-best mark in the SEC over the past 22 seasons (2002-24)—South Carolina’s Devan Downey averaged 26.2 in 2009-10—and the best mark of any Division I player in conference competition this year. He and Purdue’s Zach Edey (25.4) posted the highest league scoring averages by any Power Six individuals since Marquette’s Markus Howard (28.7) and Iowa’s Luka Garza (26.2) in 2019-20.

A 6-foot-6, 213-pounder from Thornton, Colo., Knecht ranks first nationally in both 39-point (three) and 35-point (five) performances, with each number tied for the program single-season record. He is also third in 30-point outings (seven) and co-No. 11 in 25-point games (11) among Division I players. He is the second SEC player in the last 14 years (2010-24) with at least five 35-point displays and/or seven 30-point showings in a season, joining Arkansas’ Mason Jones (2019-20). Knecht, a finalist for the Julius Erving Award, has five of the top nine single-game scoring totals by an SEC player this year, including a career-best 40-point showing Saturday against No. 15/13 Kentucky in his final home game.

A junior guard, Zeigler averaged 11.6 points, 2.7 rebounds and an SEC-leading 6.0 assists per game during the regular season. He shot 40.4 percent from the field and 35.3 percent from 3-point range, while placing fourth in the league with 1.9 steals per outing. The Long Island, N.Y., native’s 2.80 assist-to-turnover ratio is fourth-best in the conference and his 1.94 3-point makes per game place top 15.

Zeigler was even better in SEC action, putting up 14.1 points, 3.4 rebounds and a conference-best 7.0 assists per game, while shooting 43.6 percent overall and 36.9 percent on 3-pointers. He also compiled 2.1 steals per outing to rank second and notched a 3.15 assist-to-turnover ratio to place third. Additionally, he finished third in minutes average (34.1), co-No. 11 in made 3-pointers per game (2.28) and No. 19 in scoring.

The 5-foot-9, 171-pounder owns the top two single-game assist totals by an SEC player this year, notching a career-best 14 in a Feb. 24 win over Texas A&M and 13 in a Feb. 3 victory at No. 10/8 Kentucky, a game in which he also tied a career high with 26 points. Zeigler posted two double-doubles, while finishing one point or one assist shy of four others. He scored in double figures in 17 of the final 23 contests, registering 17-plus points in 10 of them. One of 15 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Watch List members, Zeigler has multiple steals 15 times this season, with four-plus in seven.

A junior forward, Aidoo tallied 12.1 points on 53.3 percent field-goal shooting, 7.6 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game during the regular season, the latter three marks all third-best in the SEC. He also placed fourth in the league in offensive rebounding (2.9) and sixth in defensive rebounding (4.7), as well as co-third in double-doubles (eight) and third in 20-point, 10-rebound outings (three), the latter figure tied for the third-most by a Volunteer in the last two decades (2004-24).

Aidoo performed his best during SEC competition, averaging 13.3 points, 8.3 boards and 2.2 blocks per contest, while shooting 54.7 percent from the floor. His rebounding and field-goal clips both ranked second in the league, while his blocked shots average put him fourth. The Durham, N.C., native also ranked co-third in offensive rebounding (3.3) and third in defensive rebounding (4.9).

A 6-foot-11, 240-pounder, Aidoo has tallied double-digit points in 20 affairs in 2023-24, including 10 of the final 11 in the regular season. He has reached 17 points in seven affairs, with 23-plus in three and a high of 29 in a Dec. 12 victory over Georgia Southern. Aidoo possesses 10 double-digit rebounding displays this season, including grabbing 15 boards in a Jan. 13 triumph at Georgia, the top total by a Volunteer in over five years. He blocked multiple shots in 19 appearances, with three-plus in 10, four-plus in five and five on two occasions, both in league play.

Knecht, Zeigler and Aidoo led fifth-ranked Tennessee (24-7, 14-4) to the program’s 11th SEC regular season title, including its sixth outright crown. The Volunteers are the top seed in the SEC Tournament and begin play, after a double-bye, Friday at 1 p.m. ET at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., live on ESPN.