Santiago Vescovi signs two-year contract to play professional basketball overseas
Former Tennessee Basketball guard Santiago Vescovi is headed to Spain to start his professional career. BAXI Manresa on Thursday announced a two-year contract with Vescovi, who spent the last five seasons with the Vols.
Vescovi played in the NBA Summer League for the Golden State Warriors. He had 10 points, four rebounds and four assists in his final Summer League game last week and averaged 3.0 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists over four games, shooting 40.0% from the field and 33.3% from the 3-point line in 12.1 minutes per game.
Vescovi started a Tennessee record 144 games (out of 149 career games) over the last five seasons and holds the program record for steals in a career, with 212. He averaged 10.3 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists with the Vols, shooting 39.2% from the field and 37.2% from the 3-point line.
🇺🇾 𝗔𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗮 𝘂𝗻 𝘂𝗿𝘂𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗶𝗮̀ 𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗼𝘀𝘁!
— BAXI Manresa (@BasquetManresa) July 25, 2024
✍️ Acord de 2 temporades amb Santiago Véscovi, que debutarà a Europa de la mà del BAXI #Manresa.
🙌 ¡Bienvenido!
💪 Escorta 📏 1,91 🇺🇾 URU/ITA 🪪 22 anys
🛬 @warriors / @Vol_Hoops
📊 Stats 2023-24: 6,3PTS 3,6REB 2,6ASS
He had a career year in 2021-22, averaging 13.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 31.2 minutes per game, shooting 41.3% from the field and 40.3% from three. He made 102 3-pointers during his junior season, joining Chris Lofton as the only Tennessee players to make 100 or more threes in a single season. For his career, Vescovi finished with 325 3-pointers.
Vescovi averaged 12.5 points per game in 2022-23, but his numbers dropped to 6.3 points last season, shooting a career-low 36.8% from the field and 32.6% from three.
Vescovi, a native of Montevideo, Uruguay, signed with Tennessee in December 201 out of The NBA Global Academy in Australia. He previously played at NBA Academy Latin America in Mexico City in 2018.
He committed to Tennessee in November 2019, arrived on campus a week later and started in his debut with the Vols, a home loss to LSU just a week after joining the program. He scored 18 points and hit six 3-pointers in the loss.
Nine former Tennessee players appeared in the NBA Summer League
Vescovi was one of nine former Vols that played in the NBA Summer League.
Dalton Knecht, the No. 17 overall pick in the NBA Draft in June, led all rookies in scoring at 21.3 points per game.
Josiah-Jordan James, another former Tennessee fifth-year senior, signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Indiana Pacers, appearing in the team’s final three Summer League games. He averaged 1.0 points, 3.7 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 1.0 steals in 11.7 minutes per game.
Knecht in three games averaged his 21.3 points per game on 41.8% shooting from the field and 39.1% shooting from the 3-point line. He also averaged 5.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.7 steals in 31.2 minutes per game.
Keon Johnson, the No. 21 overall pick in the first round of the 2021 NBA Draft, averaged 16.0 points, 5.2 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 1.6 steals over five games with the Brooklyn Nets, shooting 47.5% from the field in his 29.2 minutes per game.
The Summer League production led to Brooklyn signing Johnson to a multi-year deal, after he previously played on a two-way contract with the franchise.
