Inside a Tennessee basketball pasta

FLORENCE, Italy − JP Estrella dropped to all fours, crawled under the table and scrubbed intently.

The Tennessee basketball freshman did whatever he had to do Saturday in a cooking class, including taking his 6-foot-11 frame below a table in pursuit of cleanliness. His efforts were rewarded well. His six-person team − labeled "Team Diversity" − won a pasta-making challenge at Mama Florence.

"Tastes like victory," said freshman Cade Phillips, also on "Team Diversity," as he loaded up his plate with pasta.

It was competitive. It was chaos. It was camaraderie-building − which is, after all, a primary objective of UT's 10-day trip to Italy.

The Vols split into four teams, observed how to make tortellini and spaghetti then made their own. They started with eggs and flour and went through the process from cracking eggs to folding tortellini.

In between, there was singing Bastille's "Pompeii," trash talk and tomfoolery aplenty. Players tossed flour and pasta scraps onto opposing teams' tables to thwart their cleanliness scores. Each team tried to develop a strategy. The Zakai Zeigler-led "Italian Stallions" went for volume and met the goal, but suffered in quality.

[ Mike Wilson, who covers Tennessee men's basketball for Knox News, is the only media member traveling with the Vols during their trip to Italy. Follow his daily coverage at knoxnews.com and in the News Sentinel. ]

Estrella, Phillips, Santiago Vescovi, DJ Jefferson, Cameron Carr, and Kaylan Makan stood as the victors thanks to a high score based on a combination of pasta quantity and quality as well as station cleanliness. They excelled at the latter, choosing to use the final minutes each round to frantically clean and organize their table before screaming "hands up" when the timer ended.

The "Italian Stallions" came in last. Zeigler fell into a couch in mourning when the fourth-place finish was announced. He was snapped back into joy when the third-place team was proclaimed and it included strength coach Garrett Medenwald. Everyone jeered Medenwald, including a roar-inducing quip from Freddie Dilione.

"My team had 50% more pasta than you," Dilione said pretending to be Medenwald, who checked the scorecard and debated his teams' results.

"Team Diversity" cheered loudly when it was announced as the winner. Its name came from the Uruguayan Vescovi and the Indian Makan. Estrella decided he was a Canadian because he is from Maine, which is close to Canada.

Whatever the name and the reasons for it, the team was successful and their pasta certainly put Olive Garden to shame on a rainy Saturday in Italy.

"After a long day of work, I just want some pasta," Zeigler said.

Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @ByMikeWilson. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it