Anyone who spends time around Rick Barnes’ program knows that he runs Tennessee basketball with a different fuel. That fuel is “INAM” — “it’s not about me.”
INAM is a standard, and it flows on and off the court. It means if one guy is down on the court, the four other players come to pick him up. INAM promotes love of the game and love of the program.
“If you have that love for the game, you’ll meet that standard, and I think that’s just going into every game, that’s what we strive ourselves on,” junior guard Jahmai Mashack said. “And just making sure that we get there and, you know, do our best every game. Just love the game, love the sport and just have fun with it because, you know, basketball is definitely a privilege to be playing out here. So we all don’t want to take it for granted.”
Nothing speaks to the culture more than the return of fifth-year seniors Josiah-Jordan James and Santiago Vescovi. The two went through the draft process and had opportunities to compete for a spot in the NBA.
Vescovi’s return and the addition of Dalton Knecht occupied the final two roster spots while James had yet to make up his mind. It seemed that his only opportunities were elsewhere in college basketball or at the next level.
However, the two options in his mind were Knoxville or the NBA — nothing else. James chose to stay in Knoxville for his fifth year as a walk-on.
“It’s hard to leave such a special place,” James said. “It wasn’t until the last day that I really decided my final decision in returning. The biggest thing was being around a group of guys who I felt like were on the same page as me and wanted to come back and do something that’s never been done at Tennessee.”
In the era of the transfer portal and taking every opportunity for immediate success, James and Vescovi stayed put. In Zakai Zeigler’s words, it was the “camaraderie” that brought them back.
“It means that they really, really cared about us as a program,” Zeigler said. “Just to have the leadership and experience back and their style of play, it helps us out so much more. It gives us that was more of a boost going into the season just knowing that we have those guys there.”
There is a sense of unfinished business following last year’s loss in the Sweet 16. It’s not about personal accomplishments, but it’s about competing for a championship for Tennessee and for the guys next to them.
Zeigler said that INAM is a “brotherhood.” Vescovi called it a “family.”
“The University of Tennessee is bigger than every single one of us,” Vescovi said. “So it’s about understanding that we want to win a championship. That’s the biggest thing over every single one of our personal interests.”
James and Vescovi have put four years of work into the program, and Barnes “expects a lot from those two guys.” However, the expectations are different.
Now that they are back, he says that they will not be judged by their play on the court because he’s seen it. They will be judged based on their leadership first and foremost.
“They have always worked,” Barnes said. “They have been guys that we know have represented this program the way we wanted it represented. They are guys who bring it every day.”
