Dalton Knecht poses for photos on the red carpet before the NBA basketball draft, Wednesday, June 26, 2024, in New York. The Prairie View High School product, whose college path included stops at Northeastern Junior College , Northern Colorado and Tennessee, was chosen 17th overall by the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the NBA draft on Wednesday night in Brooklyn.
A native of Thornton, Knecht hit a growth spurt during the latter stages of his prep career. That and lagging grades kept him from going Division I right away. But after two years at Northeastern Junior College, Knecht transferred to Northern Colorado and led the Big Sky in scoring his second and final season in Greeley.
Now he joins the LeBron James, Anthony Davis and the Lakers, who were eliminated in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs by the Nuggets, but just got a new head coach in JJ Redick.