On Monday night, Tennessee basketball’s Jahmai Mashack got his first taste of professional basketball action.
After the trade that routed him to the Memphis Grizzlies finally went through, the No. 59 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft was able to get on the floor in the NBA Summer League with the team. Despite not being able to practice beforehand, Mashack went out and did what he does best.
Off the bench, he played 23 minutes. In that time, he produced five points on 2-for-4 shooting from the field and contributed nine assists, four rebounds, two steals and a block. His constant energy on the defensive end was also a boost.
In the Summer League, players get 10 personal fouls to work with before fouling out. Due to Mashack’s intensity, he used up all 10 and fouled out late in the game.
That’s exactly what the Grizzlies took him to do, though. His ability to disrupt opponents in all four of his seasons at Tennessee was something Memphis thought could translate. Although he obviously won’t be able to pick up that many fouls in a real game, showing he’s not afraid to be physical and figure out where the line is at this level has to be encouraging.
On offense, he didn’t try to do too much, either. Mashack’s nine assists with just one turnover showed his ability to be trusted in transition and find an open teammate. He wasn’t hunting for his shot, but took advantage of open driving lanes, as well.
Mashack with the full-court 👀 pic.twitter.com/F8NyGoj0Dw
— Memphis Grizzlies (@memgrizz) July 8, 2025
More From RTI: Former Tennessee Star Chaz Lanier Signs Rookie Contract With Detroit Pistons
After being selected by Memphis, Mashack was asked about the franchise saying they wanted to take ‘dogs’ in this draft. He’s clearly taking that to heart to start his career.
“It’s something that I’ve always done,” Mashack said. “It’s not something that a coach asked me to do and I decided to buy into that. It’s something that I’ve been doing since I was 12, 13, 14 years old, when I told my dad that I want to become a great basketball player. He sat me down and he told me, it’s not going to be through making the most points or having the flashiest passes or looking at highlights, it’s going to be being the hardest working dog that you can be. I’ve embraced that ever since I was in high school and college and I don’t plan on doing nothing different now. I know what got me here. I know what works as far as winning and I know how to improve my game. And I know being a dog is No. 1 on that list. There’s no reason to change it now. It’s the formula I’ve always worked with and I feel like if I can grow that and mold that to something special, I can end up being a great winner in this league and help Memphis continue to evolve.”
Mashack played four seasons at Tennessee, where he became known as possibly the best defender in the country. As a senior, he was named the Field of 68 National Defensive Player of the Year for his efforts. He also averaged six points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game while starting in all 38 contests.
He was a key part of back-to-back Elite Eight appearances, two of the three times the program has ever reached that point. While in Knoxville, UT went 109-36 and he played in the seventh-most games in program history (137). His nine appearances in NCAA Tournament wins are the most of any player at Tennessee, too.
