A little more than 24 hours before being drafted 17th overall by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2024 NBA Draft, Dalton Knecht was in our office shooting hoops.
As last season’s SEC scoring average leader made his way to the 10 designated shooting spots we laid out along the floor, we realized that the last sticker got covered in the hustle and bustle of the day. So we gave him the ability to shoot from anywhere on the floor. He could go back to the fake free throw line, try another one off the couch, or hit a simple layup. Instead, in a pure shooter’s mindset, Knecht took a few steps back into the lane, putting at least 25 feet between himself and the hoop that circled the opposing cement wall, and nailed the shot.
“I felt that confidence come from the moment I touched the basketball,” Knecht said. “My parents always made me be super confident, always told me to trust your hard work. I have always felt that way. So no matter what, when I step on that court, I’m going to be the most confident player on that court.
Knecht is a gym rat, whether it’s on a regulation size ring or not. He is drawn to the hardwood and its sights and sounds; the creaking of herringbone patterned soles, the smell of refinished floors and the sound of a leather ball falling through antiquated nets. It’s an obsession he’s carefully nurtured over the past five years as he’s embarked on a journey of his own.
“I would say it’s like home. When you’re at the gym, you’re playing your own music, whatever you want, and you’re just hanging out with some friends or by yourself, you’re just going there to get away from reality, just being alone, flowing. on your own stuff,” Knecht says.
The 6-6, 23-year-old native of Thornton has been figuratively lighting up Thompson-Boling Arena every night as a fifth-year transfer from Tennessee. From JUCO to the Big Sky to playing under head coach Rick Barnes, Knecht stormed into the SEC with a chip on his shoulder this past season, averaging a team-high 21.7 points and 4.9 boards per game while shooting a ridiculous 39.7 from deep. It was a 100% shoot. . He dropped 40 at Kentucky in early March, became the first SEC player since Shaquille O’Neal to hit back-to-back 35-pointers and took home the SEC Player of the Year in unanimous fashion.
Knecht’s story is an annual reminder that there are guys who are on college basketball’s biggest stage, at mid-major programs. All they need is a sliver of a chance. And Knecht took his thing in an instant.
Without an influx of offers, after graduating from Prairie View High School in 2019, Knecht opted to go the junior college route. Surrounded by acres of prairie fields in the high plains of Stirling, he spent his days in the gym. After two seasons and an NJCAA First Team All-American to his name, he set his sights on Power Five conferences. And then the epidemic happened. So he adapted, transferring from Northeastern Junior College to Northern Colorado in the Big Sky Conference.
As a junior, Knecht adjusted to DI competition amid a nagging injury and a roster filled with upperclassmen. Enter his senior year, where his 8.9 points per game from last season jumped to 20.2, along with a Big Sky title, only confirming what he’s believed for years: bet on him was worth it. So he decided to do it again.
On March 23, 2023, with one year of eligibility remaining, Knecht entered the NCAA transfer portal. Colorado, Oregon, Indiana and Tennessee all came knocking. But there was a clear difference between the volunteers and the rest of the group. head coach Rick Barnes coached Knecht’s all-time favorite player, Kevin Durant.
Knecht will be the first to admit that he’s scrutinized all of KD’s highlights on YouTube. He may not have the same fun warm-up routine as the two-time NBA champion, but Knecht has developed a bond between their games.
“I tried to apply as much as I could to my game, and it kind of just continued watching, with Coach Barnes at Tennessee, a lot of Kevin Durant highlights, and also Devin Booker,” Knecht said. “So I’m just trying to take as many players as I can and put them in my game.”
Throughout the year, Barnes and his starting point guard sat in a film room and dissected Durant’s highs and lows from his lone season in Austin. They studied his cadence with the rock, his command of timing and possession, and his fluidity in iso scenarios. But mostly, they watched Durant’s monumental 37-point, 23-rebound performance against Texas Tech.
It didn’t even take an entire game before Knecht began to gather his highlights, which Barnes would surely show his students in the future. “I would say the dunk was the coach’s favorite memory.”
“That dunk” was actually a full poster. With 15 minutes left in the second half of a “friendly” exhibition against Michigan State in late October, Knecht found himself picking up the pace at the back. In an instant, he turned on the jets, lost his defender at the three-point line with a clean back, took two steps, stood up with the ball in his right hand and threw down a stunning dunk. another Spartan defender. Downright dirty. Embodiment of the body.
“The first thought was… I don’t even know. To be honest, I can’t even remember. But I just know that before the game, one of my coaches, Rod Clark, he told me to go punch somebody if you get a chance. And I had a chance in the first half and didn’t do it,” he says. “Then the second time you saw what happened and seeing the reactions of my teammates like Josiah (-Jordan James) running to me was priceless. It was fun, just putting on a show and showing the world what I can do.”
The banner heard from East Lansing to Rocky Top defined what was to come from No. 3 in Knoxville. Knecht has a knack for scoring in top conferences. Go ask the NJCAA, the Big Sky and the SEC. Lights-out shots were constant, curls in the midrange were automatic, rebounds came and went, and dusting defenders at the three-point line before contested layups became routine.
“He also taught me offensively to show me where the gaps are and to read my secondary guy, because coach (Barnes) always told me you can get to your guy at any time, you just have to worry about the secondary guys.” – Nekht. says:
With nearly 20 hours between him and his hometown, Knecht scored tons of buckets night after night, helping lead the Volunteers to the Elite Eight, where they lost to Zach Eday and the Purdue Boilermakers, despite Knecht dominating with 37 points and cashing in 6. triplets.
After years spent honing his craft and waiting for a chance to make his mark, Knecht saw decades of confidence and self-belief confirmed by a high-scoring performance on June 26 when the Lakers took him with the No. 17 pick.
Some say he came out of nowhere last season, but the good people in Thornton, Sterling, Greeley and Knoxville have been involved for years. Meanwhile, Rob Pelinka told reporters that new Lakers coach JJ Redick has already begun planning and drafting ATO activities for his rookie sharpshooter.
“My journey isn’t like everyone else’s, and that’s okay,” Knecht told reporters in his first news conference as a Laker. “Just making my own way is something special and a lot of kids will look up to it. It’s really cool to write my own story.”
Portraits by Eli Selva. Photos via Getty Images.
