KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee starting guard Santiago Vescovi will not play in the Vols’ Sweet 16 matchup against Creighton on Friday night due to an illness. Junior guard Jahmai Mashack will start in his place for UT.
Vescovi had missed two days of practice for Tennessee leading up to the game, but Rick Barnes said he expected Vescovi to be available to play.
The two-time First Team All-SEC selection has made a program-record 144 starts for Tennessee and has started all 34 games for the Vols this season.
He is averaging 6.5 points, 2.5 assists and 3.7 rebounds per game for Tennessee this season.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee men’s basketball is about to be busy in the transfer portal.
After reaching the Elite 8 in the NCAA Tournament, the Vols have eiight players on the roster for next season following the news that forward Jonas Aidoo intends to enter the transfer portal. He is the fourth Vol to do so along with Tobe Awaka, Freddie Dilione and D.J. Jefferson.
On top of that the Vols lost Dalton Knecht, Santiago Vescovi and Josiah-Jordan James who were all on scholarship. Colin Coyne, who was a walk-on, will graduate along with those three.
So Tennessee is losing eight players, seven of which were on scholarship. They bring in one freshman four-star guard Bishop Boswell. With all that math, Tennessee has eight players on the roster and six open scholarships to fill.
With that, UT only has one starter returning next season, which is guard Zakai Zeigler.
Other guards returning on scholarship are Jahmai Mashack, Jordan Gainey and Cameron Carr. Grant Hurst is on the roster as well but is a walk-on.
With the departures of three pivotal guards who were starters in Knecht, James and Vescovi, there are needs. First UT could use an established scorer in the transfer portal. One option is Darlinstone Dubar out of Hofstra. A source has told WBIR he will visit the university this weekend. He averages 17.8 points. 6.8 rebounds, 1.2 steals and 0.9 blocks per game.
If Dubar commits and signs, it would be a big addition to the Vols. Adding a couple of more guards would get them back to the depth they had this past season.
At forward, the Vols return J,P, Estrella and Cade Phillips. Both didn’t play a lot as the freshmen learned consistency on both ends of the court. They will need to take a big step, but the Vols need to address their need at forward.
Aidoo started all 36 games and his backup Awaka played the minutes Aidoo wasn’t in most nights coming off the bench. The Vols are losing their two big men who played 86 percent of the minutes of all the forwards for Tennessee this season.
The Vols will need to find established forwards in the transfer portal. There are plenty of that 247 Sports have ranked among the top transfers in 2024.
The Vols have plenty of time to fill the roster. Players can continue to enter the transfer portal through May 1. If there is a coaching change with their team after that date, they can enter as well.
Whatever shakes out, there will be a lot of new faces on the Vols next season.
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