Santiago Vescovi hasn't exactly been the offensive force this year that he's been for the Vols over the course of his career. The fifth-year senior's minutes and points are the lowest since his sophomore season.
However, make no mistake. The Vols' co-elder statesman is still having a big impact for Tennessee, and it was memorialized in appropriate fashion in program history on Saturday night during the Vols' 62-58 win over the Texas Longhorns in the NCAA Tournament Round of 32 matchup.
Vescovi finished with just 2 points on 1 of 4 shooting, but he added four rebounds and a co-team high 3 steals. Those three lost possessions for Texas ended up being huge in just a four-point win for Tennessee.
With his three steals, Vescovi passed Vincent Yarbrough for the most steals in the history of Tennessee basketball with 212, according to the University of Tennessee. Yarbrough compiled 211 steals from 1998 to 2002.
Of course, Yarbrough was able to notch his totals over four seasons, where Vescovi is in his fifth year. However, a player staying for five years with the same program feels almost like an exception to the rule in today's instant gratification/transfer portal world and is worthy of recognition. That's especially the case with Vescovi, who's willingly accepted more of a backseat this season with Dalton Knecht being handed the reigns to Tennessee's offense.
The fifth-year senior has stayed the course and contributed where he could. And now, his name sits at the top of one category in Tennessee's basketball record books. Just like it should.
More must-reads: