Keith Wyatt didn’t have his entire team.

The Prairie View High School coach cobbled together a whoever-was-available roster for a Colorado fall league. It was football season, after all, so key players were missing. Wyatt took the opportunity to involve an intriguing but slight 5-foot-6 incoming freshman. At the end of a game, Wyatt decided to see what the kid had to try and win the game.

The scrawny kid did everything he was supposed to do. He dribbled down the court, carving his way to the left elbow. He flicked a jumper with an already refined release. He missed. They lost. The kid bawled his eyes out, feeling like he let everyone down. He was worried he’d never get another opportunity — he wanted another opportunity.

That kid was Dalton Knecht and his ascension to Tennessee basketball superstar and beyond lived in that desperation for more opportunities.

“At the time, I was more impressed that a freshman was saying those kind of things,” Wyatt said. "Looking back on it now, I kind of realize it more that he had it then. … It has always been there.”

That much is clear to those who have seen Knecht rise from possibility to prodigious. He had greatness inside him as an undersized soon-to-be high schooler and that greatness is becoming fully formed as a 6-6 soon-to-be NBA Draft pick.

Knecht's flight to being an All-American candidate is unconventional, but brought him to the brink of his dreams all the same. He's an undeterred force. He's a junior-college product. He's a you-can-make-it from anywhere tale.

“It is a blessing to me — making your own story," Knecht said.

Dalton Knecht set his path toward the NBA early

Wyatt has a habit of asking any player he trains the same question: What are you doing this for and what is the end goal? Wyatt didn’t blink when the Knecht, only a freshman, said he wanted to play in the NBA. He’d had players say it before. He had told himself to never squash a dream in a teenager and didn't dismiss it. He never had with anyone.

Still, Knecht’s answer struck a chord.

“I just felt different about it when he did it,” said Wyatt, now an assistant women’s coach at Laramie Community College in Wyoming.

Wyatt knew the odds and knew Knecht needed a big growth spurt, which everyone believed was coming. He sought a plan to bring the best out of Knecht and set him up to make it as far in basketball as possible even if that was being a good Division II player. Knecht did have one thing working for him: He was addicted to working on his game. He truly wanted to play his way to the NBA. It was perhaps less a dream and more a declaration even with the far-out nature at the time.

“This is what I love," Knecht said. "That is something I want − I want to be is an NBA player. Nothing will ever change the fact that I want to get to my goal.”

He wasn’t joking. Wyatt wasn’t joking. It was an unspoken belief and they set a trajectory on doing the things it would take to prepare him for college basketball first. Knecht seemed sure there would be more. He believed in himself so much that he believed it was possible.

How Dalton Knecht developed his shooting motion

Wyatt casually uttered the names of two of the best 3-point shooters in NBA history when he talks about Knecht’s shot. The effortlessness reminded Wyatt of Steph Curry. The quick release reminded him of Klay Thompson.

“He had one of the most pure shots I had ever seen in my life,” Wyatt said. “Even back then, it was pure and effortless.”

How did a too-small guard in Colorado get such a stroke?

“I listened to my dad,” Knecht said. “He knows a lot.”

Knecht’s shot is tidy and not busy, a motion that dates back to his middle-school years when he was hooked by basketball. It is a quick but unhurried movement. He worked out in the mornings at Lifetime Fitness in Westminster, Colorado, with his dad, who played at Division II Mayville State in North Dakota. Corey Knecht taught his son to repeat the form. Set your feet. Flick your wrist. Hold the follow through. Elbow in. Focus on the same spot on the rim. Consistency in everything.

Knecht was a quick study. He picked up the set up and release immediately. The workouts gained structure. Free throws and midrange jumpers to warm up. Dribbling into pull-up jumpers. Free throws to reset. Three-point shooting from the wings and the top of the key.

The exact shot he has today came about later in high school when he got bigger and stronger. He could raise the ball higher to start his motion. It made Knecht lethal, a sharpshooter with a sudden release.

It began with father-son bonding time at morning and night.

The best thing that ever happened to Dalton Knecht

Corey Knecht was sitting in a tree stand deer hunting in Nebraska when his son called. It was not a good phone call nor was it short.

Knecht was ineligible in the fall semester of his sophomore season at Prairie View because of his grades. His family and coaches opted for him to sit out the entire season to focus on academics. He had to watch basketball and not play in games all season.

“In the long run, it was probably the best thing that happened to him,” Corey Knecht said.

It might have been the most pivotal moment in Knecht’s high school career. Procrastination got the best of him and he got a life lesson. School mattered, especially if he wanted to get to his dreams. The Knechts made a plan for him to elevate his grades and change his thinking.

Knecht still got in the gym around his school work, which he was dedicated to in a new way. He got high marks at Northeastern Junior College and graduated with a degree in communications from Northern Colorado. He’s working toward a master’s at Tennessee.

“He had to make some big decisions and do it for himself," Corey Knecht said.

Waiting on the elusive growth spurt

Knecht put his hope in genetics in his first two years of high school.

Corey Knecht is 6-3 thanks to a growth spurt as a high school junior. Dalton Knecht had the intangibles and he had many of the tangibles required to excel. He had to wait and see if he had the same growth spurt in his future.

“I could see him growing with his talent,” Corey Knecht said. "His body wasn’t catching up.”

Everyone expected he would grow, but when? He rocketed to 6-3 by his senior year. When he showed up to a signing day ceremony at NJC, Trenkle was sure Knecht had grown again. He was 6-5 and grew more at NJC to reach 6-6.

Confidence came with the height. Wyatt saw a change in Knecht when he started dunking. He had the ability. Now, he had the size.

How Dalton Knecht wowed on a junior-college visit

Eddie Trenkle had an assistant coach in his ear about Knecht. The Northeastern Junior College coach listened and then he saw it firsthand. Knecht's visit to NJC ranks as one of the best he has seen a player have.

Sure, Knecht made just about every shot he took in a pick-up game. He hit 3-pointers and made stepback jumpers. He showed his sudden movements on the court. He already had an evolved offensive skill set then. His passing ability might have been the most impressive thing he did on the court.

What Knecht said after cemented Trenkle’s conviction that the 17-year-old he watched dominate was no normal recruit. Trenkle asked Knecht how he liked the game and why.

“I loved it because I played with guys who wanted to win every game and every point,” Trenkle recalled Knecht saying.

The depth and maturity of the statement caught Trenkle off guard. He was used to recruits saying they liked it because it was fun. Knecht’s attitude matched the ability he flashed. Trenkle was all in on Knecht and he showed it with a diligent recruitment in the following months before getting Knecht to commit.

Illness can't keep Dalton Knecht down

Trenkle’s phone wouldn’t stop buzzing in his pocket. NJC was at McCook Community College in Nebraska grappling for a regular-season title during Knecht's sophomore season.

Trenkle checked the phone to see who was behind the incessant messaging. It was Knecht, who had COVID and was back in Colorado.

“He was texting me during the game saying, ‘Hey coach, I think we need to do this,’ ” Trenkle said. “He watched every step of the way.”

Knecht isn’t one to say he is sick. The coaches found out he had COVID and had to tell him he could not travel with them. He wasn’t part of that game on the court, but he made sure he was as much a part as possible.

The aftermath was a surprise to no one. Knecht was in the gym waiting to celebrate with his teammates when they returned. He cared more about his team winning than not being part of the win.

Get out of my way

Trenkle didn’t argue with Knecht.

NJC was headed to overtime against Eastern Wyoming with its season on the line in the Northwest Plains District semifinals in April 2021. Knecht told Trenkle the Plainsmen were going to the title game without question.

“It was kind of like that one moment in his life where he was like, 'Coach, we're winning this, give me the ball and get out of the way,’ ” Trenkle said.

Trenkle obliged. He spent the five-minute overtime period finding ways to get Knecht the ball by any means. He came off screens. He worked in the high post. He ran to the wing. He made good on his word with a blend of scoring and passing. He had 38 points and nine rebounds to send NJC to the district title game.

Seeing Dalton Knecht would be an NBA player

Knecht didn’t know what was next as his senior year drew to a close at Northern Colorado. He mulled over the NBA as his next step. The transfer portal was out there if he wanted to continue his journey elsewhere. He also could return to Northern Colorado.

On March 5, Trenkle watched Knecht and had no doubt about what was next — be it in a couple months or in a year.

“I turned to my wife after that senior night and I said, ‘He is a pro,’ ” Trenkle said.

Trenkle had watched Knecht play on ESPN+ for two seasons. He knew his former player had blossomed into a special talent. Watching him in person that night against Montana State asserted just how special.

Knecht had grown into a dominant ball-handler. It was fluid and easy. He was splitting the defense, running hard in one direction then slicing through opponents. The shot was the same — smooth and precise.

He was a complete player offensively. Trenkle told Knecht that night he thought he was a future pro. Knecht responded with a huge hug.

Dalton Knecht chose the path less obvious with Tennessee

Knecht thought he got recruiting attention when he left NJC. Then he hit the transfer portal to leave Northern Colorado and, as Trenkle said, “Everybody and their dog wanted him.”

The list of suitors was long and Knecht had a variety of choices. The guy who has taken a uncommon path to the brink of the NBA wasn’t about to make an expected decision. Knecht could have chosen any school to let him play to his strengths as an offensive master.

He didn’t want that. He zigged when most would zag. He wanted to add the final piece to his arsenal. It was all about defense.

“He was making the decision of they can make me a better defensive player and help me with parts of my game that I need help with,” Trenkle said.

Tennessee coach Rick Barnes had coached Kevin Durant at Texas, which was crucial in landing Knecht. Durant is his favorite player and the one he studied on YouTube in middle school and still does. But Barnes’ defensive reputation resonated with Knecht.

He had done the work to become a sensational scorer. He decided on defense.

Dalton Knecht, Tennessee basketball and the path thus far

Wyatt still has a half-dozen videos on his phone of big shots Knecht made in his final two seasons at Prairie View. One is particularly perfect.

Knecht, on the other side of the growth spurt, started under the hoop. He hustled between two screens to break free well beyond the 3-point line. He set his feet. He flicked his wrist. He held the follow through.

The ball rattled in and Prairie View won. He got another opportunity and he made the most of it because that is Knecht's story. He has done it time and time again on an atypical trek to Tennessee and the cusp of the NBA.

“I think it’s really special," Knecht said. "You don’t need to be that ESPN guy or most-ranked player in your class. You can go juco. You can go from mid-major to high major. You can make your own route at the end of the day. You just have to stay confident and dedicate yourself to it.”

There's so much that could have gone differently. He might have gone to Division I out of high school if his grades were right. He could have landed in a power-six program after NJC if not for the COVID-19 pandemic.

Could've and might've aren't phrases you'll hear from Knecht. He wouldn't change a thing. His journey is more remarkable because it didn't go those ways. He defies the norm both in path and in talent. He plays a beautiful brand of basketball, slipping screens as simply as he sinks a shot. He can score 20 points in mere minutes. He is terrorizing the SEC as he wrecked the Big Sky for two seasons and dominated at NJC for two years.

"He knows he is the best player on the floor in his mind," Trenkle said.

Knecht thought that when he missed that shot in a meaningless fall league game. He still thinks it.

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: Dalton Knecht: NBA prospect from unknown to Tennessee basketball star