Mighty Mashack
April 10, 2025 | Men's Basketball
SAN ANTONIO – When Jahmai Mashack, in September 2020, committed to a college three time zones and over 2,100 miles away, he knew he wanted to leave an indelible mark.
He did just that.
A guard from Fontana, Calif., Mashack spent the past four seasons in Knoxville, Tenn., helping lead the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team to its greatest four-year stretch ever, including perhaps its two best campaigns of all-time.
Mashack made his name as a lockdown defender, perhaps the most feared one in the country. No matter the challenge presented by an opposing player, the fiery Mashack rose to it and excelled. Each year, he got even better in that role, ending with a senior campaign in 2024-25 during which the honors poured in.
The 6-foot-4, 202-pounder was named Field of 68 National Defensive Player of the Year and collected SEC All-Defensive Team accolades. Most recently, he spent Final Four weekend in San Antonio for the Naismith Trophy ceremonies, as one of four finalists for the elite Naismith Defensive Player of the Year distinction.
“It’s a big honor. It’s something that, obviously, I was trying to get to, a level I was trying to get to for my team, for myself,” Mashack said Sunday morning at the awards brunch. “That’s kind of what I pride myself on is being a great defender, being a great competitor and being a winner. I think being a finalist for this award is a culmination of all those things.”
It was fitting, too, that one of the other three finalists was a fellow Tennessee guard, Zakai Zeigler. Although the Third Team All-American could not make it out to the Lone Star State due to a prior family commitment, the magnitude of Tennessee having two finalists was evident.
That both players came to Rocky Top together in 2021 made it even better. For four years, they played alongside one another and brought the program to new heights. Their dynamic defensive abilities helped the program finish top-three in KenPom adjusted defensive efficiency each of the last four years, something no other school can claim.
“I think it speaks volumes to the legacy that we brought to Tennessee, kind of the standard that we set for the rest of the guys in the future,” Mashack said of Zeigler joining him on the finalist list. “Obviously, it hasn’t been done having two finalists for [the Naismith] Defensive Player of the Year award. So, I think it goes to show how much we pride ourselves on that end, how much we care about that end and how we’re both really good two-way players.”
While Zeigler could not make it to the Alamo City, Mashack did have some close company. His parents, Elton and Meika, joined him for the weekend festivities.
Nearly four years after their son left home to attend a college he had never even visited, they proudly watched him earn the well-deserved recognition for all he achieved as a Volunteer.
Elton and Meika were constant presences at Tennessee games, despite their distance from every school in the SEC. They supported their son, his teammates, the coaches and the program he dedicated himself to since the day he stepped foot on campus in 2021.
“I think it’s super important for them to come with me [this weekend] because I feel like a lot of it is for them, as well,” Mashack shared. “Just seeing how good of a job they’ve done … and how they’ve shown so much love for me and support [means a lot]. And they kind of drive me to want to do more and not just settle for the standard that I’m at, but also raise the bar and continue to go to another level beyond that.”
There is no question Mashack raised the bar and then far exceeded that. He became, unquestionably, the best wing defender in college basketball during his stellar four-year career.
He posted, per College Basketball Refence, a 6.28 defensive box plus-minus (DBPM) as a collegian, the seventh-best mark of any Division I player in the last 15 seasons (2010-25). Only 15 players in that stretch are even above a 6.0 mark, with Mashack one of just four under 6-foot-8.
In 2024-25 alone, he compiled a 7.0 DBPM to rank second in the country behind only fellow Naismith Defensive Player of the Year finalist Joseph Tugler of Houston. Just seven players in the nation posted a figure over 5.8, with Mashack among the only one below 6-foot-5.
Mashack’s elite defense got him to San Antonio, but it was not that alone. It was also that his defense helped his team win – a lot. To his mother, it was fitting to see both those attributes recognized in San Antonio.
“It is a culmination. He has always been a winner,” Meika said. “That has always been his focus, it wasn’t about him. And then he understands that defense may not be the sexiest, but it’s a big part of winning. And so to see him be celebrated for both brings it so full-circle.”
It would have been easy for Mashack to leave Tennessee after a freshman season in which he totaled 19 points in 123 minutes. Many players do just that these days.
Mashack remained a reserve as sophomore and junior, but he still stayed in Knoxville. His role expanded each year, including serving as the point guard on a Sweet 16 run in Zeigler’s injury absence in 2023. He continued to work, to improve, to dedicate himself to his craft.
From May to August during the 2024 offseason, Mashack made 30,000 jump-shots on his own, all while retaining his premier defensive skills. He gave his all for Tennessee, as clearly displayed from start to finish in a senior season during which he was one of three Volunteers to start all 38 games, a single-season program record.
“It’s a stick-to-it-ness that is just rare. You can raise your kids to be that way, but that doesn’t mean that they will, but that is who he is,” Meika remarked. “He is just a committed person and he wants to overcome whatever challenge. So, it isn’t easy to stay in this day and time, but that is definitely him and it was his decision and we’re extremely proud. He wanted to leave a legacy and he felt like what he brought would – and he did.”
Mashack and Zeigler helped Tennessee to a 109-36 (.752) record from 2021-25. That broke the prior four-year wins record by a Volunteer, set from 2006-10 by Quinn Cannington and Wayne Chism, who went 104-38 (.732).
This year, the duo led Tennessee to a 30-8 record and an Elite Eight berth. It marked the third 30-win season and third Elite Eight trip in program history, including the first time achieving both feats in the same year. In 2023-24, their play aided the Volunteers to an SEC regular season title and an Elite Eight appearance, also a first single-season combo feat for the program.
“For me, I think, when the name Jahmai Mashack comes up, I want it to be known as the most winningest [four-year] player in Tennessee history,” the tenacious guard said of his legacy. “I want to be known as the best defensive player in Tennessee history. And being the best at anything in Tennessee history or a program’s history is an honor.”
When Mashack reflects on his own career, it is not an individual accolade or achievement that comes to mind first. It is not his 35-foot buzzer-beater to beat Alabama in his second-to-last home game in one of the biggest wins ever at Food City Center, a venue in which he went 60-5 (.923).
It is not even a sensational defensive performance against a particular star player. And there are undoubtedly many of those to choose from, including the showing against Alabama’s Brandon Miller in 2023 when he announced himself to the college basketball world—or at least to those in it initially unaware—as a superstar defender.
No, it is just one thing Mashack says stands out about his career. And it is exactly what one would guess it would be.
“I think the main thing that sticks out to me is just being a winner. I think winning as many games [and] having as many successful seasons consecutively is a hard thing to do,” Mashack remarked. “…We kind of tried to grow a legacy there that people will remember forever. And I think just looking back on that and just how many wins we were able to get, how many big games we were able to play in and how many moments you were able to collect for … Tennessee fans, it’s heartwarming and, honestly, it’s an honor to be a part of something like that and to really show my personality, show my faith and show my will and my love of the game.”
In addition to excelling on the court, Mashack also did so off it during his four years in Knoxville. That is evidenced by him receiving the prestigious Torchbearer Award, the highest honor a student can receive at the University of Tennessee.
Mashack became the fourth men’s basketball player to garner the distinction, including the first since 1953. He served on SEC and NCAA committees, took part in campus opportunities and gave back to those in need.
Fran Fraschilla told Mashack before the Naismith awards brunch at the Tobin Performing Arts Center, “You exemplify everything good about college basketball.” There is no doubt that is the case and his parents could not be more delighted about the peson he has become while on Rocky Top.
“Oh, it’s been amazing, truly phenomenal. Not just on the basketball court, but as a young man going far away from home, going through challenges, sticking it out,” Meika said. “We are so incredibly proud of his growth. It’s not easy to be so far away, but what he’s done, how he’s represented the University, as a student-athlete [and] as a young man has been nothing short of amazing. [To get the] Torchbearer Award is just the highest honor. It’s just been beautiful to watch.”
The Naismith events in San Antonio also brought joy to Meika and Elton, as they saw their son stand alongside some of the biggest names in the sport as an equal.
Mashack posed for photos with basketball dignitaries such as Christian Laettner, Rick Pitino, Tubby Smith and Roy Williams. He sat at the same awards banquet as Danny Ferry and T.J. Ford. He helped run a youth clinic at the newly-renovated Davis-Scott Family YMCA with Marcus Camby and Randy Livingston.
Many of those names were just as excited to share kind words with Mashack and commend him for his play as he was to meet them. It was obvious he earned the respect of legends in the game to which he has devoted his life.
“It’s unbelievable because he is such a basketball purist,” Meika explained. “He cares about winning. He respects people who have come before him, greatly. He’s a kid that grew up watching and studying and learning. That part is so precious. It’s amazing because I understand the gravity that comes along with being in these rooms and so I love that for him and it makes it worth it.”
Mashack was one of just 11 Division I players to record at least 64 steals and 20 blocks this season. Of the names on that list, only he and Maine’s Kellen Tynes stand under 6-foot-5.
Over the last seven seasons (2018-25), only seven different SEC players, including Mashack, have hit those numbers. Just two, Kentucky’s Reed Sheppard and Arkansas’ J.D. Notae, also stand 6-foot-4 or below.
It is clear Mashack has, no matter how you look at it, etched his name in college basketball lore as a top-notch defender. That Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner, a three-time finalist, won the award Sunday does not at all detract from that.
Mashack is, simply put, one of the finest wing defenders in recent memory in the sport and in SEC history. That is indisputable and this past weekend in San Antonio celebrated just that.
“It’s a great experience. It’s definitely eye-opening to kind of [see] what they’ve gathered here for this awards ceremony and how they’re trying to shine a light on people who play well throughout the collegiate season,” Mashack shared. “I think it’s just really important to be able to do that because it takes a lot of hard work going through a college season like that. So, I think if you’re successful and you’re celebrated like this, it makes you want to grind even harder for, not just yourself, but for the people that are coming after you.”
One other group of people whom Mashack assuredly grinded for during the entirety of his career was the Tennessee fan base.
The Volunteers finished top-five nationally in average attendance all four years of Mashack’s career, including placing third at 20,026 his senior campaign. Tennessee, despite playing in the third-largest on-campus arena in the country, sold out 16 home games over his last two seasons on Rocky Top.
The connection between Tennessee student-athletes and their fans is special. Mashack hopes that continues, even as he moves on to the next steps of his career and his life.
“I love Vol Nation. I love the support that they’ve given me,” Mashack said. “I love that they’ve been such big fans of me and the way that I play and how hard I play on the court. I put my all in to Tennessee every day and I think you can see that on the court. I’m hoping that they don’t think that this is a goodbye or a farewell, but that they can follow me and support my journey even at the next level. Everything that I’m going to do is for them … [and] for my family. And I’m always going to represent Tennessee forever.
“I spent such a great time there … and I was able to come out with amazing moments that I’ll never forget,” Mashack continued. “So, thank you to Vol Nation. It’s crazy that as a kid from California, so far away from Tennessee, that I was able to come out and leave such an impact on people, even if we didn’t grow up the same. So, I just thank you for the support. Thank you for the love. And I just pray that they can follow me throughout my journey and continue to support me no matter what I do.”
Tennessee takes care of its own and the tough, competitive guard from Southern California who worked his way to Naismith Defensive Player of the Year finalist status is now indeed a Tennessean who will be forever remembered and supported by his fans throughout the state and beyond.
