Tennessee basketball: Victor Bailey Jr. transfer could prove costly if Santiago Vescovi leaves for NBA

To a degree, both things were expected. However, they could have a combined negative effect on Tennessee basketball beyond what was initially expected. Junior guard Santago Vescovi is testing the NBA Draft waters, and Victor Bailey Jr. transferred to the George Mason Patriots.

Vescovi, who stands at 6’3″ 191 pounds, was second on the team in scoring this past year at 13.3 points per game. He shot over 40 percent from three and over 79 percent from the free throw line, and he was also versatile, averaging over one and a half steals, three points and four rebounds.

On the other hand, Bailey, who stands at 6’4″ 182 pounds, averaged just over two and a half points in under 10 minutes a game. He is rejoining former Tennessee basketball assistant Kim English and former teammate Davonte Gaines, who transferred there last year.

Although Bailey didn’t see much action last year, his transfer could prove costly depending on what Vescovi does. Right now, the Vols have no pure scoring guard locked in for 2022-2023, regardless of what anybody else does.

Kennedy Chandler is almost certainly gone, but even if he comes back, he and Zakai Zeigler are both natural point guards. Josiah-Jordan James could also be gone, but he’s more of a wing in Rick Barnes’ system who focuses on defense, size and transition. Justin Powell is also a wing and more of just a three-point specialist.

However, Bailey has already proven he can play the scoring guard role. In 2020-2021, he was Jaden Springer’s backup scoring guard and was as valuable to the team. After all, he averaged 10.9 points per game that year, and it was truly weird to see his minutes decrease so much this year.

With the possibility of Vescovi, James and Chandler all leaving, there was a good chance he’d step into the role once again next year. Now, though, there are legitimate questions going forward as to how the Vols can address such a void.

Remember, scoring in the post is still an issue. Barnes has some young talent on that front, but nobody is proven. At this point, the only thing he’s guaranteed to have in his system next year is solid point guard play, defense, length, three-point shooting and talent on the wing.

That’s enough of a combination to be successful, but it may not always generate enough scoring. Without James or Vescovi, the best hope is for Jahmai Mashack to be able to move over to the two, B.J. Edwards to prove himself to be an elite scorer or Quentin Diboundje to quickly emerge.

There’s always the transfer portal too. Either way, Tennessee basketball is in trouble if nothing changes at this point. They have too many things they have to address, and either Vescovi needs to come back, James or Chandler need to affirm they’re coming back or Barnes needs to add more talent from somewhere else.