CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Rick Barnes pulled Dalton Knecht off the court after a February practice.
The Tennessee basketball coach and his star player disappeared down the tunnel at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center. He had a lesson to impart upon Knecht and he knew the only place to do it.
Barnes marched to a lowered basketball hoop in the underbelly of the arena. He crouched low, slipping underneath the rim and through the net. Barnes stood up directly in the middle of the hoop and stared at Knecht.
“He said, ‘If I can fit in this hoop, there is no reason you can’t get a basketball in there,’ ” Knecht said.
That wisdom of just how big a basketball hoop is came in the middle of a puzzling free-throw slump for Knecht. It came back around Saturday in the perilous final 10 seconds of an NCAA Tournament game. Knecht was precise, connecting on four clutch free throws to send second-seeded Tennessee (26-8) to the Sweet 16 with a 62-58 win against Texas.
“He showed that he had confidence in me and when the season was on the line I made them,” Knecht said.
The Rick Barnes lesson that helped Dalton Knecht in Tennessee vs Texas
Knecht came back to the court after Tennessee’s four-point loss to South Carolina on Jan. 30. His family sat on the bench and watched. They knew the routine.
He made 150 free throws before leaving, the mental and physical bloodletting of a 6-for-10 performance on the heels of a 3-for-7 one at Vanderbilt.
“We know it was kind of mental for him,” assistant head coach Rod Clark said. “We know he was pressing on himself to make free throws. He just had to be himself.”
Knecht is the best shooter Tennessee has had under Barnes and one of the best in program history. He is shooting 76.5% on free throws and his slight free-throw woes in February led to Knecht often staying after practices. The Northern Colorado transfer routinely returned to Pratt Pavilion to shoot late into the night.
Barnes sat courtside plenty during those post-practice sessions, chirping advice to his free-throw motion and release. Knecht’s 3-point shot has an exquisite, smooth trajectory. His free throws were coming out lower.
Barnes peppered into Knecht’s mind to add arc and shoot the ball confidently. He did exactly that with Tennessee’s season hanging in the balance to propel the Vols to Detroit and a meeting with No. 3-seed Creighton (25-9) on Friday.
“I have confidence every time I step to the line that I am one of the best free-throw shooters in college basketball,” said Knecht, who had 18 points and nine rebounds against the No. 7-seeded Longhorns (21-13).
Dalton Knecht took Tennessee home to the Sweet 16 bracket
Barnes was the first person to greet Knecht in the Tennessee huddle with 8.8 seconds left against Texas.
“Coach Barnes said just shoot it and take us home,” Knecht said.
Knecht grabbed a rebound with the Vols leading by three and was fouled. It was the caliber of situation Knecht dreamed about when he practiced free throws with his father, Corey, as a kid. The clutch shots. The big heart rate. The breathing. Everything that goes into it.
There was no hesitation in the real moment.
“DK is built for this,” guard Josiah-Jordan James said. “We rely on him and his confidence, it leads us in a lot of categories. It led us to this point.”
Knecht hit the first, the crucial front end of a one-and-one. He swished the second for a five-point lead. Texas buried a 3-pointer, cutting the lead to 60-58 and called timeout.
Knecht wanted the ball when the Vols planned an inbound play. It was never going anywhere else. His teammates told him it was his time — his opportunity to seal the game.
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“Before I even finished the sentence, they said go get it,” Knecht said.
Knecht sprinted toward teammate Zakai Zeigler and caught the pass before being fouled. He bent over at the free-throw line with 3.8 seconds to play. He easily hit the first. He rattled the second one in for the decisive four-point lead.
There was no doubt for any of his teammates. If it possible, there was even less doubt internally for Knecht. He was flawless and let Clark know it.
“He was like, ‘That is why you brought me here,’ ” Clark said. “I was like, ‘Beep beep you you’re right.’ ”
Knecht was confident because that is who he is — even if his curious struggles needed a curious bit of coaching from Barnes. Come to think of it, Knecht said Saturday, the whole scene looked like Tennessee had cut down a net and put one over Barnes.
Thanks to lesson and Knecht making good on it, maybe the Vols will make that happen yet.
Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on Twitter @ByMikeWilson. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: How Tennessee’s Rick Barnes paved Dalton Knecht’s March Madness moment
