Tennessee wrapped up a film shoot Sunday night, and Dalton Knecht was the last player in the locker room as he headed to practice with graduate assistant Riley Collins. Before Knecht and Collins walked out the door, coach Rick Barnes screamed, “Wait! I gotta show you something.”
Barnes pulled out his iPad and compiled three of Kevin Durant’s best games at Texas — 37 points against Oklahoma State, 32 points against Kansas and the 2007 Big Game. 37 points in the 12th championship game against the Jayhawks. Barnes narrates each play.
Look at how quickly KD puts the ball in the basket. Look at how long he is but how low he is. See how he looks at the game before it starts. Look at how he gets into space and doesn’t let defenders get the ball.
Knecht sat quietly, listening to every word. He’s still in awe that the man who once coached his favorite player is now his coach, and he’s reached a point where Barnes believes in him as much as he does Durant.
The world quickly saw that Durant – the No. 2 player in his high school class – was a generational talent. Knect became the All-American that no one saw coming. He was a late bloomer — 5-foot-4 as a high school freshman and without a Division I offer as a senior — who came to Tennessee after four years of incognito college basketball, playing at Northeastern Junior College and then Northern Colorado plays ball.
“I wouldn’t compare him to Durant in any way, but he can learn from what he did,” Barnes said Competitor. “The one thing he has in common with Durant is he always goes to the gym.”
Read the rest of my January feature here.
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