John Fulkerson
photo by James Boofer
KNOXVILLE – John Fulkerson made quite an entrance for Tennessee on Tuesday night.
The Vols forward at least should recount his appearance for an SEC men’s basketball game against Arkansas at Thompson-Boling Arena with the appropriate enthusiasm. It would be a terrible opportunity to waste.
I’ve heard Fulkerson expound at length about the merits of Lucky Charms cereal as a pregame meal. He’s very capable of capturing the moment.
Turns out the redshirt junior had been suffering from an illness since last Saturday’s game against Kentucky. He missed the game-day shooting practice and skipped pregame warmups. UT coach Rick Barnes said that Fulkerson’s availability was in doubt less than two minutes before the opening tip.
He emerged from the tunnel next to the team bench shortly before the pregame introductions for UT’s 82-61 victory. Fulkerson then logged nearly 28 minutes, scoring 14 points and grabbing eight rebounds.
Barnes described the performance as “remarkable.”
“He showed a lot of courage tonight, knowing we needed him,” Barnes said.
Barnes recycled the “remarkable” adjective in reference to Vols freshman guard Santiago Vescovi. His narrative has involved adjusting on the fly to collegiate basketball. Tuesday was his 12th game with the Vols (14-10, 6-5 SEC) and his performance was another Euro step in the right direction for the native of Uruguay.
Vescovi scored a personal-best 20 points and dished out eight assists. He also was charged with only three turnovers against a Razorbacks defense that ranked 16th nationally in forced turnovers per game (17.1) and 20th in steals (8.7).
“I was just feeling it,” said Vescovi, who shot 6 for 10 from the floor (3 for 4 on 3-pointers). “I was just trying to make the right play all the time.”
His 3-point shooting helped open driving lanes, as did some deft shot fakes. Half of Vescovi’s baskets were scored from inside the foul lane and all of his assists helped create baskets there, including two thunderous dunks by Yves Pons.
Arkansas coach Eric Musselman was impressed with Vescovi even before arriving in Knoxville to see him play in person.
“He’s very entertaining to watch on tape, preparing for the game,” Musselman said. “It’s a great find by their staff.”
Barnes offered an overarching testimonial to Vescovi’s progress last Saturday after he jousted with Kentucky’s talented guards, playing 39 minutes and scoring 18 points.
“Santiago is a phenomenal story,” Barnes said. “When you think about what that kid has done, it is amazing.”
Tuesday’s tribute involved Vescovi’s basketball IQ.
“He learns, he’s a fast learner,” Barnes said. “He has a great feel for the game.”
In this case, his timing was good as well. The Vols were missing fellow guard Josiah-Jordan James for a fourth consecutive game because of a groin injury.
Arkansas (16-8, 4-7) was without guard Isaiah Joe, who’s one of 10 finalists for the Jerry West shooting guard of the year award. He’s sidelined after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery.
“There’s injuries throughout college basketball,” Musselman said. “Isaiah is a great player (but) we’re just not deep with him. You take away any of our guys and (we) become a lot less.”
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Dan Fleser is a 1980 graduate of the University of Missouri who covered University of Tennessee athletics for the Knoxville News Sentinel from 1988-2019. He may be reached at danfleser3@gmail.com