Tennessee basketball star Santiago Vescovi is away from the team and won’t play in Sunday’s charity exhibition against Michigan State, Vols’ coach Rick Barnes shared Wednesday.
Vescovi’s grandmother is sick and the senior shooting guard is traveling back to Uruguay to spend time with his family.
“Santi won’t (be available against MSU),” Barnes said. “His grandmother is not doing well. He’s gonna leave tomorrow to go back home. And she’s very, very ill right now and he’d like to be with his family. So he’s leaving tomorrow to go back to Uruguay.”
College basketball season is rapidly approaching. Tennessee faces No. 4 Michigan State in a charity exhibition game on Sunday afternoon in East Lansing before facing Lenoir Rhyne in an exhibition game at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center next Tuesday.
The top 10 exhibition game at the Breslin Center tips off at 3:30 p.m. ET on Sunday afternoon. Big 10 Network is broadcasting the game.
Barnes did not specify whether junior point guard Zakai Zeigler will play in the exhibition game as he continues to work back from his left knee injury.
“And I think we won’t know with Zakai until probably Saturday when we get through a practice,” Barnes said. “And you know, when he’s been fully cleared. And he’s starting to do more in practice. Yesterday he pretty much went through the majority of practice yesterday. I think he’ll do a lot today in the scrimmage when we get going today.”
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With Vescovi definitely sidelined and Zeigler questionable, redshirt freshman Freddie Dilione and USC Upstate transfer Jordan Gainey will earn a large increase in minutes against the Spartans.
Junior wing Jahmai Mashack could also work at point guard as he did last season when Zeigler was sidelined.
“So if we can deal with situations like this that we’re in, it’s gonna give those (other) guys probably, a chance to play more than they’re ready for if those guys don’t play,” Barnes said. “Because I don’t think (other players are) ready to play four minutes all out on both ends yet, younger guys, they’re not. But getting it on film and letting them see it, probably grab their attention probably, as much as I try to show them every day with film and everything, it’s games are different, but we’ll see.”
The Vols open their 2023-24 season in less than two weeks. Tennessee hosts Tennessee Tech on Monday, Nov. 6 to open the season before traveling to Wisconsin for its first regular season test that Friday.
Vescovi is Tennessee’s top returning player, earning First Team All-SEC honors each of the last two seasons. The 6-foot-3 shooting guard averaged 12.5 points per game on 37% three-point shooting last season and is one of the SEC’s top perimeter shooters.
The Montevideo, Uruguay native added 4.6 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.8 steals per game a season ago and helped keep Tennessee’s offense afloat after Zakai Zeigler tore his ACL in the final week of the regular season.
Vescovi is one of 20 players on the Jerry West Award Preseason Watch List— given annually to the nation’s top shooting guard.
