KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Dalton Knecht of the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team is a member of the Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Midseason Top 10 List, as announced Wednesday afternoon by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Named after Class of 1993 Hall of Famer and 16-year professional basketball player Julius Erving, the annual honor, in its tenth year, recognizes the top small forwards in Division I men’s college basketball. A national committee of top college basketball personnel determined the list of 10 candidates.
Joining Knecht on the list are Jamison Battle (Ohio State), Keion Brooks (Washington), Tucker DeVries (Drake), Harrison Ingram (North Carolina), David Jones (Memphis), Dillon Jones (Weber State), Baylor Scheierman (Creighton), Jaylon Tyson (Cal) and Anton Watson (Gonzaga).
A native of Thornton, Colo., Knecht leads the SEC in scoring this season, averaging 20.1 points per game on a 48.8 percent field-goal clip and a 40.0 percent 3-point mark. The three-time SEC Player of the Week is also posting 4.6 rebounds and 1.8 assists per outing. Knecht’s 139 made field goals through 20 games this season are 10 more than any other player in the conference.
Knecht is the second Volunteer named to a midseason positional watch list, as junior point guard Zakai Zeigler earned a spot on the Bob Cousy Top 10 List.
Fan Voting, presented by Dell Technologies, will open Friday and fans can vote for their favorite players. The top player selections from the fan vote will get an additional vote towards making the next round.
This list will be narrowed down to five in late February. The finalists will be selected in late March and presented to Bob Cousy and the Hall of Fame’s selection committee.
The winner of the 2024 Julius Erving Award will be presented on a to-be-determined date, along with the other four members of the Men’s Starting Five. Additional awards being presented include the Bob Cousy Award (Point Guard), Jerry West Award (Shooting Guard), Karl Malone (Power Forward), and the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award (Center), in addition to the Women’s Starting Five
For more information on the 2024 Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award and the latest updates, visit hoophallawards.com, as well as follow @hoophallu and #CousyAward on Twitter and Instagram.
