Santiago Vescovi talks 'nightmare' illness, wanting to play vs. Purdue in Elite Eight

DETROIT — The best part of Santiago Vescovi’s day Friday was a moment he also described as a nightmare. Tennessee and Creighton in the Sweet 16, battling for a spot in the Elite Eight and locked in a high-level NCAA Tournament game.

And Vescovi, the fifth-year senior for the guard, the player that has started more games for the Vols than any other player in program history, was all alone in the training room inside the Tennessee locker room at Little Caesars Arena after being ruled out while battling the flu.

“Throughout the whole day, it was just like a nightmare, to be honest,” Vescovi said Saturday afternoon. “For me, of course I wanted to play, but on top of that I just had to deal with not feeling well.”

‘We’ve got trust in every single guy on this team’

It was Tuesday night when Vescovi started feeling under the weather. He lifted Wednesday morning but, still not feeling right after the workout, went to see Tennessee trainer Chad Newman. 

“I had fever, body aches,” Vescovi said, “I was freezing all the time.”

Saturday he sat in the Tennessee locker room surrounded by reporters, wearing two jackets zipped up to his chin. If there was upbeat moment during his media session, it was when his mind went to the 82-75 win over Creighton that helped the Vols advance to just the second Elite Eight in program history.

“We’ve got trust in every single guy on this team,” Vescovi said, “that they’re going step on the court and the guys play their tails off. Yesterday, you could tell energy wise everybody was locked in. 

“Everybody that came in did their own part and they got it done. So I was really proud of all of them and it really got me excited.” 

Vescovi’s teammates made sure his Tennessee career didn’t come to an end in front of a TV in the training room.

“The best part of my day, to be honest, was when we won,” Vescovi said. “I was sitting in the training room watching the game and that really got my blood going. Got me really excited.”

Elite Eight: No. 2 Tennessee vs. No. 1 Purdue, Sunday, 2:20 p.m. ET, CBS

No. 2 Tennessee (27-8) and No. 1 Purdue (32-4) are scheduled for a 2:20 p.m. Eastern Time start on Sunday on CBS in the Midwest Regional Final. Vescovi said he would attempt to go through practice Saturday afternoon, then reevaluate through the day on Sunday.

“I’m going try to play,” Vescovi said. “I want to play, I want to be with the guys. The flu has been kicking my tail, but yeah, we’ll see today out there. And then tomorrow, same thing. But yeah, the main thing, I do want to play. I want to be with the guys, so I’m going to do everything I can to play tomorrow.”

The line Vescovi tried to walk Thursday and Friday was deciding if trying to play through the illness would help the Vols or hurt them.

“It always comes down to that knowing that, you get to a point where even if I wanted to play, I wouldn’t have helped the team,” Vescovi said. 

His body made the decision on Friday.

“Yesterday at least was more of, I really like couldn’t do anything physically,” Vescovi said. “I just didn’t have energy. I was tired, my body was hurting. I had fever and all that stuff. But yeah, going to see how it goes today and then we’ll go from there.”

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