ESPN: Former Vol top Man Committed to Golden State Warriors in a Blockbuster Deal.
In this year’s Summer League, former Tennessee basketball player Santiago Vescovi will be a member of an NBA team.
Santiago Vescovi, a former guard for Tennessee basketball, has been included to the Golden State Warriors’ NBA Summer League roster. This information was released by the Warriors.
Although Vescovi, a native of Uruguay, was not chosen in this week’s NBA Draft, he will still have the opportunity to play in the greatest league in the world. Vescovi averaged 10.3 points per game in his five seasons with the Vols and was twice awarded first-team All-SEC.
The 6-foot-3 Vescovi finished his career at Tennessee with 149 games played, including a program-record 144 starts. In program history, his 149 games played is second only to John Fulkerson. He is the only player in program history to record 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 400 assists, and 150 steals in a career. He also set a program record with 212 steals. In terms of career three-pointers made, he was third in Tennessee history, ninth in the SEC, and fourth in Vols history with 106 victories. His career assists rank him ninth in Tennessee history, while his points scored rank him eighteenth in program history. His record of 48 straight games in which at least one three-pointer was made ranks fourth in SEC history.
Vescovi is the only SEC player in the last 30 years to post at least 220 points, 125 rebounds, 85 assists, 40 made threes, and 35 steals in three straight seasons, which puts his all-around ability into perspective.
When Vescovi decided to return to Tennessee as a super senior last season, many were shocked and pleased. However, that season didn’t go as anyone had anticipated, at least not individually. After standout guard Dalton Knecht joined the team, Vescovi’s job was obviously going to change. However, a number of additional circumstances, including the passing of his grandmother in Uruguay, injuries, and then a sickness during the NCAA Tournament, combined to make life challenging for the seasoned southpaw.
As a senior, Vescovi averaged just 6.3 points per game, down from 13.3 and 12.5 points per game the previous two seasons. He was an almost 40% three-point shooter going into that last season, but he only shot 32.6 percent from long range, and occasionally he appeared scared to fire freely. Despite playing fewer minutes, Vescovi remained a mainstay in the starting lineup until missing the Vols’ Sweet Sixteen victory over Creighton due to a nasty flu. Two days later, he came off the bench in the Elite Eight loss to Purdue. This was because Rick Barnes and the rest of Tennessee’s staff always trusted him.
However, Vescovi was a mainstay for a Tennessee team that advanced to the Elite Eight, won the SEC Tournament, and won the SEC championship. His influence on the team began when he was a true freshman and moved to campus in the middle of the 2019–20 season. Arriving straight from the NBA Global Academy in Australia, Vescovi was expected to sit out the first half of the season. However, after star senior guard Lamonte Turner decided to have surgery and finish his college career, things took a dramatic turn for the better.
Suddenly forced to start, Vescovi made six three-pointers in his debut game, a home game against LSU. That rookie season, he scored 10.7 points on average. He also had a stunning career transformation on the defensive end of the court, going from being a liability to an excellent perimeter defender by the time he left the university.
Three Vols players from the previous campaign, including Vescovi, have made it onto an NBA squad, if only temporarily. The Los Angeles Lakers selected Knecht in the first round of the draft, and the Indiana Pacers signed Josiah-Jordan James to an Exhibit 10 contract.
