Dalton farewell

#1
Just a VolinTears

Just a VolinTears

Vol from Memphis
Joined
Mar 19, 2023
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#1
Just wanted to make one more appreciative thread for one of the best seasons/players in UT basketball history. He came in and changed this team with his swagger, big-game ability, and scoring punch. He was an exemplary guy to have as the face of UT basketball and led us to heights we haven't been to in quite some time. Some all-time performances against UNC, Auburn, Kentucky, and Purdue. I knew he was gonna be a star the moment he dunked on the entire Michigan State roster in that scrimmage. The way you knew when he was about to take over a game and put the team on his back was remarkable. Too bad the NCAA wanted to make the ogre Edey the face of the sport and not Knecht. Such a great individual with a bright future in the Association. As a Memphian, I'm hoping he goes to Grizzlies so I can see him play more.

Thanks Dalton for believing in Tennessee and giving us some of the best memories we'll ever have. We'll forever cherish your season on Rocky Top.
What's you guys' favorite Dalton memory?

This is Dalton's farewell message. The second to last picture got me.

 
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#2
#2
The one moment that sticks in my head above all others isn’t very flashy. Auburn had just scored to go up 8 and that game was about to get away from us. DK calmly pulls the trigger from about deep-4:30 . . . BOTTOM. We all know what happened next. We possibly don’t win the SEC without that win, and even if we do, we don’t win it outright. I still place a ton of value on regular season titles.

Also . . . I hate losing to Auburn and CBP more than anyone.
 
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#3
#3
To me, Dalton Knecht will always be the guy who made Johni Broome look like a high school defender the final 12 minutes of a Top 10 matchup.

So many memories to pick from, but that one will be lasting. Going to miss this guy. Cruel we only get 1 year, but man what a hell of a year it was.
 
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#6
#6
omghulkhands said:
I’ll never forget that dunk against Michigan State in the preseason game.

It was the real “oh sh*t” moment for me where I realized this kid was different
Click to expand...
Yep, I texted my best friend and said are you watching the Mich. State game? This guy we got from N Colorado is the real deal, and is doing it in all facets on O.
 
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#11
#11
What a joy to watch a kid of his talent play so hard. We’ve had extremely talented players come through the program but no one has embraced the Vol program more than DK did. Always humble, never self serving, and genuinely wanted to entertain the fans and contribute to his teammates success. As I’ve always said…to truly know the character, abilities, and commitment of a person …just listen to those who play, work, or live with them. His teammates at UT LOVED him and were his biggest supporters! Thanks Dalton. It was a joy!
 
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#12
#12
New Vol fan here. My daughter is just finishing up her freshman year at UT so we've jumped on the wagon with both feet. We live in Northern Colorado (Fort Collins) so I saw Knecht play a couple of times against my Rams while he was at UNC. He was good, not great, but certainly showed flashes of brilliance. The leap he made coming to UT was absolutely remarkable. It was so fun watching a Colorado kid who worked his --- off make good on the brightest stage. The highlight for me was the Purdue game where he was clearly the best player on the floor. Take a way the offensively bad officiating and the Vols are playing for a national championship. What a year. Tell me I can expect this every year as a Vols fan, right? ;)
 
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#14
#14
Just the best pure basketball player I've seen at Tennessee since Allan Houston.

We've had some good ones in that since, some would say great ones like Lofton, Grant, etc., but Dalton was just such a force at every level that those other guys weren't, which make him a more complete player.

I'll never forget getting to watch him play and the seasonal success that we got to witness. It was special.
 
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#15
#15
Just a VolinTears said:
Just wanted to make one more appreciative thread for one of the best seasons/players in UT basketball history. He came in and changed this team with his swagger, big-game ability, and scoring punch. He was an exemplary guy to have as the face of UT basketball and led us to heights we haven't been to in quite some time. Some all-time performances against UNC, Auburn, Kentucky, and Purdue. I knew he was gonna be a star the moment he dunked on the entire Michigan State roster in that scrimmage. The way you knew when he was about to take over a game and put the team on his back was remarkable. Too bad the NCAA wanted to make the ogre Edey the face of the sport and not Knecht. Such a great individual with a bright future in the Association. As a Memphian, I'm hoping he goes to Grizzlies so I can see him play more.

Thanks Dalton for believing in Tennessee and giving us some of the best memories we'll ever have. We'll forever cherish your season on Rocky Top.
What's you guys' favorite Dalton memory?

This is Dalton's farewell message. The second to last picture got me.

Click to expand...

He was the first Vol basketball player that had me watching every regular season game. I am currently not an NBA fan but plan to be watching his future team next season.
My favorite moment was watching him almost set the scoring record for an opposing player at Chapel Hill and even better was hearing the North Carolina broadcasters utter dismay at what was happening. That's bigtime!

Great post VolinTears!
 
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#16
#16
KvonBCO said:
New Vol fan here. My daughter is just finishing up her freshman year at UT so we've jumped on the wagon with both feet. We live in Northern Colorado (Fort Collins) so I saw Knecht play a couple of times against my Rams while he was at UNC. He was good, not great, but certainly showed flashes of brilliance. The leap he made coming to UT was absolutely remarkable. It was so fun watching a Colorado kid who worked his --- off make good on the brightest stage. The highlight for me was the Purdue game where he was clearly the best player on the floor. Take a way the offensively bad officiating and the Vols are playing for a national championship. What a year. Tell me I can expect this every year as a Vols fan, right? ;)
Click to expand...

Welcome! And yes, as a Vol fan there are only the highs, never ever any low moments… 😬
 
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#18
#18
cncchris33 said:
Just the best pure basketball player I've seen at Tennessee since Allan Houston.

We've had some good ones in that since, some would say great ones like Lofton, Grant, etc., but Dalton was just such a force at every level that those other guys weren't, which make him a more complete player.

I'll never forget getting to watch him play and the seasonal success that we got to witness. It was special.
Click to expand...

Knecht was the Ernie Grunfeld of this past team with the ability to do a bit of everything.
 
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#20
#20
Just a VolinTears said:
Just wanted to make one more appreciative thread for one of the best seasons/players in UT basketball history. He came in and changed this team with his swagger, big-game ability, and scoring punch. He was an exemplary guy to have as the face of UT basketball and led us to heights we haven't been to in quite some time. Some all-time performances against UNC, Auburn, Kentucky, and Purdue. I knew he was gonna be a star the moment he dunked on the entire Michigan State roster in that scrimmage. The way you knew when he was about to take over a game and put the team on his back was remarkable. Too bad the NCAA wanted to make the ogre Edey the face of the sport and not Knecht. Such a great individual with a bright future in the Association. As a Memphian, I'm hoping he goes to Grizzlies so I can see him play more.

Thanks Dalton for believing in Tennessee and giving us some of the best memories we'll ever have. We'll forever cherish your season on Rocky Top.
What's you guys' favorite Dalton memory?

This is Dalton's farewell message. The second to last picture got me.

Click to expand...

It's going to be so different without him. Honestly don't think we would have been a top 5 seed without him in the tournament. He covered so well such awkward and vulnerable scoring offense. Often it seemed impossible to get points on the board without him.
 
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#21
#21
Dalton Knecht will be a Tennessee player that Vol fans will talk about and admire for years to come. Yeah, he could score from anywhere on the court, but he played with so much confidence and poise. He wanted to be "one of the guys," but he wasn't afraid of the moment. There was not a shot that he wasn't ready to take. He was really mature. He wasn't afraid. I have seen many really great players that were hesitant to take the shot when we had to have it. Not Dalton! He believed in himself and he loved playing for Tennessee. He was genuine. How many times did I hear him say that he was so thankful that his teammates welcomed him and accepted him? And they did. The respect this team had for each other was special. We cheered for a special player on a special team during a special season. Thank you Dalton! In one season you became a Special Vol For Life!
 
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#22
#22
I never got to see Bernard King play at UT, but U was here during Dale Ellis time and saw him live many times. I never thought I'd see a better player come through here than Ellis, and although we had some really good ones (Houston, Lofton), no one was on that level until Dalton Knecht arrived.

He came and left like a shooting star (pun intended), and lifted an entire program, delivering a generational season coming in as a small school transfer. It would be an amazing fictional tale except that it actually happened! Way too many highlights to single out any, but the Michigan State dunk really was a harbinger of the otherworldly things to come.

He may have only been here for one season, but he is everything you could ever look for in a true VFL.
 
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#23
#23
TheMookieMonster said:
To me, Dalton Knecht will always be the guy who made Johni Broome look like a high school defender the final 12 minutes of a Top 10 matchup.

So many memories to pick from, but that one will be lasting. Going to miss this guy. Cruel we only get 1 year, but man what a hell of a year it was.
TheMookieMonster said:
To me, Dalton Knecht will always be the guy who made Johni Broome look like a high school defender the final 12 minutes of a Top 10 matchup.

So many memories to pick from, but that one will be lasting. Going to miss this guy. Cruel we only get 1 year, but man what a hell of a year it was.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

This is the best year I remember ever witnessing for a Vols basketball player and it was also up there as a team. We have had better regular seasons than this year, though. Of course, the SEC is much better now than it was then. I was old enough to love UT sports by about 1988-'89 so I have seen some very good and several great players for us.

I always followed Vol Basketball but never had as much buy-in as I should have as a kid, despite basketball being my favorite sport to play and to watch when Jordan was playing. The Vols product just wasn't good enough to make me have high expectations but I still watched every game I could. I I loved watching guys like Allan Houston, Steve Hamer, Ron Slay, V. Yarborough, etc. but we rarely won the SEC and we're not national cinders and had a lot of NIT years.

Jerry G. gave us one of our most talented teams and our most disappointing early end to the post season after a great regular season. I felt like we would never be majorly competitive until Pearl kicked off of our modern run of success.

It was fun and we were a threat even if we had a couple of early exits. Cuonzo didn't flush all the previous success and had a solid, boring tenure after Pearl but he is only a solid coach and it was a bad cultural fit. Tyndall was a nightmare and I thought that we would never be a true contender. I expected to be competitive under Barnes but only improve moderately........UT has improved majorly as a program and are perennial top 25 with a lot of the years being top 5-10 teams. We are a huge basketball brand that represents success even if it's only being a consistently upper tier regular season team, winning conference championships and having most of our deepest runs into late in the NCAA tournament.
 
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#24
#24
I love what our men's basketball program has consistently become and if we hire big and eventually win an overall championship any time soon then Barnes is to thank along with Danny White.

I have not seen much of the best players of the early to mid eighties teams, the all-time great players under Mears,
with Ernie/Bernie or several of the best earlier guys like Widby. I've watched enough old footage and NBA to know Bernard is our best player of all time.

But I think Dalton is close to Bernard, possibly more so than most would expect. Dalton is by far the best UT player I've seen despite Grant's 2-peat POY awards, KC with his explosive potential, Springer/Keon combined (not really but kinda), Admiral's ability to do everything, Tobias Harris and Chris Lofton's unbelievable scoring ability that defied basketball physics regarding athletic ability.

Most exciting and impactful single year in Vols history goes to DK, in my mind. Hope the future proves me right.
 
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