Santiago Vescovi announced he is returning to Tennessee for a fifth season.
Vescovi is a two-time All-SEC player and is returning with an extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Vescovi averaged 12.5 points and 4.6 rebounds per game last season. He recorded a 39.6 shooting percent and a 37.0 shooting percentage in three-point attempts.
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Vescovi appeared in 33 games for Tennessee and scored 10-plus points in 22 contests last season.
He is one of two players in Vols’ history to make at 100 three-point attempts in a season, joining Chris Lofton.
The 6-foot-3, 192-pound guard came to Tennessee from Montevideo, Uruguay.
On the verge of playing in the Sweet 16, Vescovi can’t help but think about his journey from Uruguay to the University of Tennessee.
On the verge of playing in the Sweet 16 for the first time, Santiago Vescovi can’t help thinking about his journey from Uruguay to the University of Tennessee.
Vescovi, who was born in Montevideo, began attending the NBA Academy Latin America in Mexico City at 16 years old. He moved to the NBA Global Academy in 2019 and began to put his name on the basketball map while in Canberra, Australia.
Then 17, Vescovi led the NBA Global Academy to the championship in the NBA Academy Games in July 2019. He was also a standout in the G League International Challenge with Uruguay Elite a few months later despite being one of the youngest players in the event.
He was considered a three-star prospect by 247Sports and eventually fielded scholarship offers from several Division I programs, including Butler, Miami (Fla.), Rutgers and Tennessee.
He committed to the Volunteers in November 2019.
Vescovi led all players in scoring in the G League International Challenge, averaging 12.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, three assists and 1.5 steals. (Photo via NBA Academy)
Now a senior, Vescovi is a key reason the Vols are in the Sweet 16.
He was named to the All-SEC first team after averaging 12.7 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.8 steals on 37.1% shooting from 3-point range. He finished third in the SEC in 3-pointers (88) and third in 3-point percentage.
Vols coach Rick Barnes commended Vescovi for his overall ability.
He is a very versatile player. He impacts winning without ever scoring a basket. … I’ve said before: I don’t know of anybody who has been guarded any harder than he has been guarded all year long. People literally won’t leave him. He is a very smart player.
What he has done as much as anything is the way he has impacted the game on the defensive end. He went from a guy early in his career that people literally went after every game to where now he has been on the All-Defensive Team because he understands the game and understands how to impact winning.
Vescovi produced 14 points, five rebounds and five assists to go along with four 3s on Saturday in a 65-52 win over fifth-seeded Duke in the East Regional. He has the fourth-most 3-pointers in program history in the NCAA Tournament (15).
He reflected on his journey following the victory.
First of all, I’ve got to say I’m definitely thankful to both the NBA Academy and the University of Tennessee for giving me the chance (being) here from South America. Basketball is big but not that big down there and having the chance that they gave me definitely — learning the language to where I’m at right now — has been a massive change.
The contest was a bit of a full-circle moment, too.
Vescovi had the opportunity to face Duke freshman Tyrese Proctor, who attended the NBA Global Academy in Australia. The two overlapped there for about half of a year when Proctor first arrived and they even spent time as roommates.
Proctor liked the chance to face Vescovi.
(It was) pretty cool. Lived with him for a while when he came over to the Academy, and it was just good matching up with him again back on a big stage.
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The NBA Academy, which was started in 2016, is a year-round basketball development program that provides the top high school-age prospects from outside the United States with the necessary tools to unlock their skills.
Vescovi and Proctor were among the 20 alumni of the NBA Academy from 15 countries that have appeared in the men’s NCAA Tournament this year. The program has helped 52 men and 42 women commit to or attend Division I schools in the U.S.
Vescovi is happy to see the program help so many players.
“Being able to see all those guys coming back and playing against each other at the high level here, I think it’s great,” Vescovi said. “I think it’s just amazing how the NBA Academy and Tennessee or Duke give the opportunity to kids that have a dream, that want to work hard every single day and bring whatever they can to the team.”
A look at the 2022-23 Tennessee basketball roster and regular-season analysis.
March has arrived and the focus shifts to postseason play throughout college basketball.
Tennessee (22-9, 11-7 SEC) finished fifth in the Southeastern Conference regular-season standings. The Vols’ final regular-season ranking is No. 19 in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll.
The 2023 SEC Tournament begins on Wednesday at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. No. 5 seed Tennessee will play the winner of No. 12 South Carolina and No. 13 Ole Miss on March 9 at 3 p.m. EST. The contest will be televised by SEC Network.
Following the 2022-23 regular season, Vols Wire looks at the performance of Tennessee’s basketball roster.
Performance and analysis for each Tennessee player is listed below.
Santiago Vescovi named top-10 candidate for the Jerry West Award.
Tennessee senior guard Santiago Vescovi was named a top-10 candidate for the Jerry West Award, the James Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced Tuesday.
The award, in its ninth year, recognizes the best shooting guard in the nation. The list will be narrowed to five finalists in March.
Through the Vols’ first 23 games, Vescovi is averaging 11.9 points per contest and is the team’s leading scorer. He leads Tennessee in minutes per game (31.9) and 3-point field goals (48).
Vescovi is shooting 35.8 percent from beyond the 3-point attempts in Southeastern Conference play.
Vescovi is fifth in program history with 239 made 3-point attempts and is Tennessee’s 44th all-time leading scorer with 1,142 career points.
Three Tennessee basketball players honored on All-SEC teams.
Three Tennessee basketball players were honored by the Southeastern Conference coaches Tuesday.
Junior guard Santiago Vescovi was named first-team All-SEC, while freshman guard Kennedy Chandler received second-team honors. Guard Zakai Zeigler was named to the SEC’s All-Defensive Team.
Chandler and Zeigler were also named to the league’s all-freshman team.
Vescovi has made a total of 87 3-point shots this season and leads the conference in 3-point shooting percentage (.445). He made 57 shots from long range in league play.
In SEC play, Vescovi averaged 14.3 points per game.
Chandler averaged 13.8 points, 4.4 assists and 2.2 steals per game in 17 SEC contests this season. He set a UT freshman record with 64 steals.
Zeigler is only the fourth Vol ever to be named to the league’s all-defensive team. He is the first UT player to be selected to the team as a freshman.
Other Tennessee players to be named to the all-defensive team include Jajuan Smith (2008), Josh Richardson (2014-15) and Yves Pons (2020-21).
Darius Days Struggles in LSU’s 64-50 loss to Tennessee
LSU Men’s basketball team has lost three straight games after Tennessee’s 64-50 win. The Tigers are now 15-4 and 3-4 in the SEC.
LSU struggled from the field, shooting 38% and 17.6% from three-point land. Tennessee jumped out to a quick 14-0 lead as the Tigers missed their first seven shots. The Tigers then went on a 12-3 run to get back in the game, but the Vols did an outstanding job holding off and eventually won by 14 points.
LSU played again without point guard Xavier Pinson, and his absence is starting to affect the way the Tigers play on the court. Tari Eason led the Tigers in scoring with 16 points and added six rebounds. Brandon Murray had 15 points on 7-12 shooting, and Eric Gaines pitched in with ten points.
However, Darius Days again struggled, scoring just five points on 2-10 shooting from the field and 1-7 from beyond the arc. He re-injured his ankle but did return to the game.
Santiago Vescovi led Tennessee in scoring with 16 points, and he hit five three-pointers. Uros Plavsic added 12 points and six rebounds. The Vols did a great job on the defensive end, forcing LSU into tough shots. Tennessee also hit ten three-point attempts, which helped them win the game.
Up next for LSU, they return home to take on Texas A&M. The Tigers need to get going; hopefully, Pinson will come back soon. However, they must also get Days on track the last two games; he has struggled a lot.
Tennessee guard Santiago Vescovi makes Uruguay qualifying team.
Tennessee junior basketball player Santiago Vescovi will represent his country in the FIBA Olympic qualifying tournament.
Vescovi, a guard for the Volunteers, made Uruguay’s Olympic qualifying tournament in Victoria, Canada. Tournament play opens Tuesday and runs through July 4.
Uruguay will play its qualifying opener against a group stage game against Turkey on Tuesday. Uruguay then plays the Czech Republic Thursday.
The group stage will be followed by a bracket stage with Greece, China and the host Canadians making up Uruguay’s bracket.
The winner of the bracket stage will qualify for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, which are scheduled to run from July 23 through Aug. 8.
During his career with the Volunteers, Vescovi has appeared in 46 games, making 42 starts. He has averaged 9.5 points per game.
Tennessee’s Santiago Vescovi selected to compete for spot on Uruguay’s national team.
Santiago Vescovi will compete to represent Uruguay and qualify for the upcoming Olympics.
He will be one of 16 players vying for 12 spots on Uruguay’s Olympic qualifying roster.
Uruguay’s 16 hopefuls will begin practicing on June 14.
The roster will be trimmed to 12 players before the team competes for a spot in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics field.
The FIBA qualifying tournament will be held June 29-July 4 in Victoria, Canada.
Uruguay will play in a group stage against Turkey (June 29) and the Czech Republic (July 1) before moving on to a bracket stage, which will include Greece, China and Canada.
The winner of bracket stage advances to Tokyo for the Olympics, scheduled for July 25-Aug. 7.
