Dalton Knecht has recently been projected as high as the seventh pick in the upcoming NBA Draft. However, I’m not sure the former Tennessee swingman will be a great fit for the top players in the world. He doesn’t seem like it.
Maybe Knecht needs to dial down his work ethic a bit. I’m not sure if he’d ever be okay with “load management,” which means skipping games to be ready for the playoffs. Sometimes it even means skip games just to skip games. Yes, that’s a common occurrence in the NBA, as abhorrent as it may seem. Knecht doesn’t do that. He couldn’t wait to get back from an ankle injury suffered early last season. Knecht just needs to be softer.
There’s another problem with Knecht going to the NBA, which could put his peers at a disadvantage after he gets drafted. He’s only beginning to reach his potential. Knecht was smart enough to turn down other schools for Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes, who is known as one of the best developers of basketball talent in the nation. Future prospects should take note. Some already have.
Arkansas coach John Calipari has said that chasing “NIL” money is like chasing thousands over billions, but that doesn’t hold true in this case. In this case, a player that truly weighs his options doesn’t need to get in bed with Calipari and whatever shoe deal that might await. He can get NIL money and pick the best actual basketball coach. How innovative is that?
A prospect can now go where he will play the most with a coach that could best develop his talent. There should be nothing left to be judged.
Calipari was in the cat bird seat when he was the tightest of the tight with Nike. Now, there are multiple basketball schools that work with Nike, which can only show so much favoritism to wherever Calipari is currently coaching.
Knecht will be judged the moment he walks on a court. Partly because he looks a bit different than most other players, some might test Knecht’s toughness. That might be like poking a sleeping bear – if the bear can drill three’s and throw down dunks at his discretion. Auburn poked Knecht and he drilled the Tigers with one of the best offensive performances in Tennessee basketball history in a Vols’ win in February.
Tennessee is robbed of Knecht because he’s out of eligibility and coach Rick Barnes did such a great job of developing Knecht and showcasing his game. Knecht was probably thinking he’d end up in Europe before he donned the Vols’ orange and white jersey. Prospects should take note. If you’re good enough, you can be the hub of what the Vols do offensively. However, being that good, which means being as good as Knecht, will be no easy feat.
Depending on who is doing the ranking, Tennessee has four players with four stars next to their name that are about to enroll to be Vols. Surely, they were watching last season. Knecht, even though Barnes will be 70 years old in July, may have reignited Barnes’ passion for recruiting and developing players as long as he’s driven to make only the second Final Four in his career.
That never seemed like a shortcoming for the Vols last year as Barnes openly expressed his frustration with his lack of NCAA Tournament success. The Vols have the coach to develop the next great college basketball star. They just have to find him.
