Tennessee basketball will continue to have another player representing them this summer in International competition. It was announced on Monday that Santiago Vescovi had made the 12-man Olympic qualifying team for Uruguay.
The battle for a spot in the 2021 Olympics will begin on Tuesday in Victoria, Canada. This is the FIBA qualifying tournament, which runs through July 4th. Vescovi and his teammates will begin competition in the group stage, which also includes Turkey and Czech Republic. They will play on Tuesday and Thursday of this week.
If Vescovi and Uruguay were to win their bracket, they would then play either Greece, China or Canada. The winner of the bracket tournament in Canada, will then go on to the Tokyo Olympics, which are scheduled to begin on July 23rd. It’s undeniable how much Vescovi has helped the Vols basketball program over the last two years, as he has started 42 games and averages 9.5 ppg. He also led the Vols in minutes per game last season.
He joins Tennessee freshman Kennedy Chandler as players representing their country. Chandler was named to the 12-man USA Basketball U-19 team last week and will travel to Latvia, where they will begin the FIBA U19 World Cup. This event starts on July 3rd and runs through July 11th.
The Vols will rely on both of these key players as they prepare for the 2021-2022, with high expectations.
