Tennessee basketball center Uros Plavsic penned his farewell message to the Vols’ program and fanbase Monday afternoon after spending four years in Knoxville.
“This time I spent on Rocky Top these past four years has taught me a lot of valuable lessons,” Plavsic wrote. “The University of Tennessee gave me an opportunity to grow as a player but more importantly as a man. To everyone that’s been apart of this beautiful journey — THANK YOU. I have been blessed to represent myself, my family and country as well as this University.”
Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened 🧡 pic.twitter.com/U2tgdUTKMC
— Uroš Plavšić (@urosp33) May 22, 2023
While Plavsic still has one year of eligibility remaining due to NCAA COVID-19 eligibility relief, his time being over in Knoxville was all but a certainty. The transfer portal is closed and Tennessee basketball has 13 scholarship players on its roster for the 2023-24 season with the addition of four prep players and three division one transfers.
Plavsic had put his name into the NBA Draft with the ability to withdraw it and return to school. While that path never seemed likely or plausible, the center’s farewell message confirms his days in Knoxville are over.
“As this chapter of my life closes, I am ready to begin the next,” Plavsic wrote. “Playing professional basketball has always been one of the biggest dreams to me. I have decided to go after that goal and follow my dreams.”
Plavsic moved from Serbia to the United States in high school where he played prep basketball at Hamilton Heights in Chattanooga. But before coming to Tennessee, Plavsic spent a year at Arizona State in Bobby Hurley’s program.
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The 7-footer spent redshirted his season in Tucson before transferring to Tennessee as a redshirt freshman. Plavsic played sparingly, and started four games, his first two seasons in Knoxville before stepping into a bigger role in his redshirt junior season.
Plavsic started 41 of 69 games his final two years at Tennessee where he averaged 4.6 points and 3.7 rebounds per game. The Serbia native had strong touch around the rim scoring in double digits five times in SEC play as a senior including a 19 point performance against Kentucky and a 10 point performance in the Vols’ win over No. 1 Alabama.
An agitator on the court, Plavsic consistently talked trash with opponents and earned his fair share of technical fouls in his career. Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said Plavsic was “a marked man” by the end of his college career.
With Plavsic off to professional basketball, Tennessee’s big men entering the 2023-24 season include junior Jonas Aidoo, sophomore Tobe Awaka, Harvard transfer Chris Ledlum and freshmen JP Estrella and Cade Phillips.
A man of the people, Plavsic made sure to say he’ll be back in Knoxville in the future and will continually support Barnes and the Tennessee basketball program.
“I will be back on Rocky Top soon to celebrate more wins with the next generation of Vols.”
3 Responses
Bless his heart but real talk Thx u Jesus he is finally Gone!!! Dude is a waste of 7 feet…. all that needs to be said
Better learn mandarin
That’s not cool man, he gave it his all based on the talent he had. You cannot fault a man for that, ever.