Tennessee guard Santiago Vescovi has declared for the NBA Draft, with the option of returning to Tennessee for his senior season. The junior sharpshooter detailed his decision with a post on Instagram, saying that he will be “maintaining his collegiate eligibility.”
#Vols junior guard Santiago Vescovi has declared for the NBA Draft, but will maintain his eligibility.
Vescovi was the SEC’s best three-point shooter this season. pic.twitter.com/mvu9p8jDNp
— Ben McKee (@benmckee14) March 26, 2022
As long as Vescovi doesn’t sign an agent, he will be able to return to Tennessee for his senior year.
The 6-3 guard out of Uruguay has been a key contributor for the Volunteers since arriving in the middle of the 2019-20 season. Vescovi averaged 13.3 points per game as a junior, shooting 40 percent from three-point range. That shooting ability will carry his professional career, whether that begins this year or sometime in the future.
A former four-star prospect, Vescovi joined Tennessee after attending the NBA Academy in Mexico City. He instantly made an impact after joining the team midseason, giving Tennessee a creator at point guard once Lamonte Turner went down for the season with an injury.
He averaged over ten points per game in that first season, took a step back in year two, and then became one of the most important players on the team this year. Does he have the athletic ability to hang in the NBA? That’s the question that he must answer. However, Vescovi has put the work in to improve on the defensive end and turned himself into a complete player.
Odds are, Vescovi returns for another season in Knoxville. In the meantime, he’s going to get feedback from NBA teams about what he can improve on in the next year, with hopes of finding an opportunity in the future.