A pair of Tennessee Volunteers earn top SEC basketball honors on Monday afternoon
A pair of catalysts for the Tennessee Vols' tremendous 2023-24 season were honored by the Southeastern Conference on Monday afternoon. The SEC announced that Dalton Knecht is the SEC player of the year. Zakai Zeigler was also named the SEC defensive player of the year. Both were named to the first team All SEC team. […]
A pair of catalysts for the Tennessee Vols' tremendous 2023-24 season were honored by the Southeastern Conference on Monday afternoon.
The SEC announced that Dalton Knecht is the SEC player of the year. Zakai Zeigler was also named the SEC defensive player of the year. Both were named to the first team All SEC team.
Knecht was as much of a shoe in for the award as there has been in recent memory. And perhaps the biggest turnaround for a transfer player ever. Knecht was named second team All-Big Sky last season. Now? Two days after scoring 40 points against Kentucky in his final game at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center, the senior guard is the best player in the conference and is a shoe in first team All-American.
The question is: can Knecht do enough to earn having his number three jersey retired? It's not farfetched. Per Tennessee athletics, a player must meet three of five criterion to be considered for the honor. Among them include SEC player of the year, first-team All-American honors, and winning a national player of the year award. The first two are locks for Knecht. If he can find a way to pull one of the national awards away from Purdue star Zach Edey, he could technically qualify after just one season in Knoxville. Or, and it would be the one Tennessee fans would love the most, the Vols bring home a national title this season. That would also do the trick.
Not to be outdone, Zakai Zeigler was named the best defender in the SEC. The Vols' lightning-fast point guard is averaging 1.9 steals per game while providing smothering coverage. Despite the award, Zeigler has been at his best this year with the ball in his hands, averaging a career high 6 assists to 2.1 turnovers per game.
And Knecht and Zeigler weren't the only two players to be honored on Monday. Center Jonas Aidoo was named second team All SEC and was included with Zeigler on the SEC all-defensive team.
Well-earned honors for a trio of truly outstanding players for Tennessee this season.
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