Could Dalton Knecht become next March Madness legend, lift Tennessee to first Final Four?

Every year, a hero of March (and April) emerges. Mateen Cleaves. Stephen Curry. Kemba Walker. Shabazz Napier. You get the picture. 

This time around, it could very well be Dalton Knecht. At this point, would anyone be surprised?

Knecht, a shoo-in for SEC Player of the Year, was up to his usual tricks on Wednesday night, scoring 26 points on 9-of-23 shooting from the field including a 5-of-11 mark from downtown. He led No. 4 Tennessee to a 66-59 road win over No. 17 South Carolina. The victory clinched the outright SEC regular-season title for the Volunteers, the first time the program has done so since 2007-08, during the height of the Bruce Pearl era. 

Knecht started his college career at Northeastern Junior College, then transferred to Northern Colorado for two seasons before joining the Volunteers last April. 

Yet on a team led by graduate students Santiago Vescovi and Josiah-Jordan James — a pair of program pillars — Knecht has been the guy. 

"They told me, since day one, to just play like me and just embraced me," Knecht, donning an orange "SEC Champs" hat sideways, told reporters. 

Knecht certainly played like himself on Wednesday. 

Late in the first half with Tennessee leading 24-22, Knecht hit a triple. Then another. Then another. In just over two minutes, the visitors went from up a deuce to double digits. 

"He's not afraid. He's not, he's not. He's got a real short memory and he's very confident," his head coach, Rick Barnes, told reporters. "He thinks he can score. He thinks every shot he shoots is gonna go in."