Santiago Véscovi Vannet (born 14 September 2001) is a Uruguayan

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player for the

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of the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

(SEC).

Early life and career

Born in Montevideo, Véscovi grew up playing

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

at the youth level for Club Atlético Bohemios. In July 2017, his performance at a

Basketball Without Borders Basketball Without Borders is a basketball instructional camp organized by the NBA in conjunction with FIBA. It presents itself as a “basketball development and community outreach program that unites young basketball players to promote the sport ...

camp in

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helped him earn an invitation to the NBA Academy Latin America in

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. At age 16, he began attending the academy, while receiving online education through the Apex Learning Virtual School. In July 2019, Véscovi moved to the NBA Global Academy, a training center at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra. That month, he led his team to the 2019 NBA Academy Games championship. Véscovi was named most valuable player of the 2019 Skill Factory Tournament of Champions after averaging 17.4 points per game. In September 2019, he averaged 12.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, three assists and 1.5 steals per game for the Uruguay Elite Team at the NBA G League International Challenge.

Recruiting

Véscovi was considered a four-star

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and a three-star recruit by

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and

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. On 22 November 2019, he committed to playing college basketball for

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. He planned on enrolling at the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state ...

during the second semester.

College career

Tennessee coach

Rick Barnes Rick may refer to: People *Rick (given name), a list of people with the given name *Alan Rick (born 1976), Brazilian politician, journalist, pastor and television personality *Johannes Rick (1869–1946), Austrian-born Brazilian priest and mycol ...

said in December 2019 that it was "highly unlikely" that Véscovi would play in his freshman season, indicating that he would likely redshirt to learn the system. However, with the loss of Lamonte Turner to injury, there was an opening for Véscovi to start at point guard. He was cleared to play for the team on 3 January 2020. One day later, he made his college debut, scoring 18 points, shooting 6-of-9 from three-point range, in a 78–64 loss to

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

. He also posted six rebounds and four assists, while committing nine turnovers. On 11 February, he recorded a freshman season-high 20 points and eight assists in an 82–61 win over

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

. In a game at Auburn on 22 February, an Auburn fan was ejected and barred from future games after yelling a xenophobic taunt at Véscovi. He started in all 19 of his appearances as a freshman, averaging 10.7 points, 3.7 assists, 3.3 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game. As a sophomore, Véscovi averaged 8.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. As a junior, he averaged 13.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.7 steals per game. Véscovi was named to the First Team All- SEC as a junior. On 26 March 2022, he declared for the

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while maintaining his college eligibility.

National team career

Uruguayan junior national team

In October 2016, Véscovi averaged 21.8 points, six rebounds and 3.4 assists per game, leading Uruguay to fourth place at the FIBA South America Under-15 Championship in

Asunción Asunción (, , , Guarani: Paraguay) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay. The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay o ...

Uruguayan senior national team

Véscovi debuted for the Uruguayan senior national team at the

2019 Pan American Games ; ay, Taqinipuniw anatt’apxtanxa'' , nations participating = 41 , athletes participating = 6,680 , events = 419 in 38 sports , opening ceremony = July 26 , closing ceremony = August 11 , officially opened by = Martín Vizcarra , to ...

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Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;",

, 19 , , 19 , , 30.3 , , .373 , , .360 , , .808 , , 3.3 , , 3.7 , , 1.2 , , .2 , , 10.7 , - , style="text-align:left;",

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, style="text-align:left;",

, 27 , , 23 , , 29.2 , , .388 , , .373 , , .816 , , 3.7 , , 3.1 , , 1.2 , , .0 , , 8.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2021–22 , style="text-align:left;",

, 35 , , 35 , , 31.2 , , .413 , , .403 , , .793 , , 4.4 , , 3.2 , , 1.7 , , .2 , , 13.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2022–23 , style="text-align:left;",

, 33 , , 33 , , 33.0 , , .396 , , .370 , , .775 , , 4.6 , , 3.1 , , 1.8 , , .1 , , 12.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 114 , , 110 , , 31.1 , , .397 , , .381 , , .795 , , 4.1 , , 3.2 , , 1.5 , , .1 , , 11.6

Personal life

He is a

Peñarol Club Atlético Peñarol (; English: ''Peñarol Athletic Club'') —also known as ''Carboneros'', ''Aurinegros,'' and (familiarly) ''Manyas''— is a Uruguayan sports club from Montevideo. The name "Peñarol" comes from the Peñarol neigh ...

supporter. Véscovi's father, Pablo, played

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

for Club Atlético Bohemios. His grandfather, Daniel Vannet, played basketball for Bohemios and for the Uruguayan national team. His mother is Laura Vannet and he has a sister, Lucia. Véscovi is of

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

descent.

References

External links

Tennessee Volunteers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vescovi, Santiago 2001 births Living people Basketball players from Montevideo Point guards Tennessee Volunteers basketball players Uruguayan expatriate basketball people in Mexico Uruguayan expatriate basketball people in the United States Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Australia Uruguayan men's basketball players Uruguayan people of Italian descent