Just Now: Vols basketball Best Player Of The Year” Dalton Knecht Visit The Tar Heels Team

Dalton Knecht is bringing home his first national award as a Tennessee basketball player after being named the 2023-24 Julius Irving Award winner.

Tennessee basketball had one of its best seasons in program history this year and went on a run to the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament. A large part of Tennessee’s success was because of a largely unknown player from Colorado.

That unknown player is Dalton Knecht. Not only did he carry the Vols to an SEC Championship, but he was also named the SEC Player of the Year, a consensus All-American, and now the 2023-24 Julius Irving Award winner. Knecht won the award over Creighton’s Baylor Scheierman, Memphis’ David Jones, Washington’s Keion Brooks and Weber State’s Dillon Jones.

The Julius Irving Award honors the best small forward in college basketball. Media members, head coaches, sports information directors, and members of the Basketball Hall of Fame selected the winner for the annual award.

The award was introduced after the 2014-15 season. The notable winners are Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges from Villanova, Rui Hachimura from Gonzaga, and Jalen Wilson from Kansas, who won the award last year.

Knecht lit the SEC on fire, scoring 25.5 points per game throughout conference play. He became a different player when we entered January and began SEC play. He had seven 30-point games and one 40-point game on his crazy run through the SEC.

He carried that momentum into the SEC tournament, helping the Vols advance to the Elite Eight for the second time in program history. He scored 26 points per game in the tournament, shooting 41% from the field and 40% from beyond the three-point line.

There’s no doubt Knecht deserves any and every award he is given this year. He has been announced as a finalist for the Naismith and Wooden Awards and will hope to beat out Purdue’s Zach Edey for the two big national college basketball awards.

LSU men’s basketball coach Matt McMahon continued to bolster the guard position for next season with a commitment from UT Martin’s Jordan Sears on Thursday.

Sears, a high-scoring 5-foot-11 point guard, announced he will play with the Tigers next season after two years at UT Martin. He played his first two college seasons at Gardner-Webb.

He’s the second guard to come to LSU via the transfer portal this spring, joining Kansas State’s Cam Carter. A Donaldsonville native, Carter signed with the Tigers on March 29.

Sears was a two-time first-team All-Ohio Valley Conference selection who led UT Martin to a 21-11 record this season. The Skyhawks tied for the regular-season title, but fell to Morehead State 84-78 in the semifinals of the OVC tournament.

He led UT Martin with 21.6 points, 4.5 assists and 1.3 steals per game and added 4.6 rebounds a game. Sears shot 43.2% from the field — including 43.2% from 3-point range — and 83.9% from the free-throw line.

Starting all 32 games for a team that scored 81.5 points per game, which ranked 21st nationally, Sears dropped in 20 or more points 18 times — including six 30-point games.

He poured in a career-high 37 points in a 106-82 win over OVC foe Lindenwood on Feb. 22, just missing a triple-double with nine rebounds and nine assists.

Sears, who ranked ninth in Division I scoring, had 34 points against North Alabama, SIU-Edwardsville and Tennessee State. He also went for 34 and 31 points vs. Morehead State, which won the OVC tournament to earn the league’s automatic NCAA bid.

Sears and Carter will join sophomore Mike Williams and incoming four-star freshman Curtis Givens in a retooled backcourt next season after starters Trae Hannibal and Jordan Wright completed their eligibility last month.

Jalen Cook, who was suspended at the end of the season by McMahon, is entering the NBA draft and Carlos Stewart is in the transfer portal.

Sears picked LSU from a list of six finalists that also included Alabama, South Carolina, Texas Tech, Arizona State and West Virginia.