Tennessee basketball made a major splash in the transfer portal on Friday afternoon when Maryland point guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie committed to the Vols over Villanova.
The Vols may not bet done adding talent from the Maryland roster as they’re targeting Terrapin transfer shooting guard Rodney Rice. Now in the fold at Tennessee, Gillespie is making it a priority to recruit Rice and get him to join him in Knoxville.
“That’s my roommate so we’re super close,” Gillespie said of Rice. “I really want him to come. He knows I really want him to come. He knows I really want him to come so I feel like he’s really interested so we’ll have to see how it goes.”
Both Gillespie and Rice are in the portal after spending just one season at Maryland. They left the Terrapin program after head coach Kevin Willard left to be the head coach at Villanova. From the time Willard left, the two immediately discussed playing with each other next season.
“That’s what we told Coach Willard when he left. We’d come if each other came,” Gillespie said. “But coming back home, I couldn’t pass that up and I told him he’s got to come with me.”
Gillespie and Rice were the starting backcourt for Maryland’s first Sweet 16 team since 2016 this past season. The point guard Gillespie averaged 14.7 points and 4.8 assists per game on 41% shooting from three-point range.
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Rice was his backcourt running mate, averaging 13.8 points per game on 37% shooting from three-point range in his sophomore season.
“Rodney is just a scorer,” Gillespie said. “He can get people involved also but he’s a pure scorer. He shoots the ball off screens. He don’t need the ball in his hands long to score it. He’s just a pure scorer.”
Tennessee is in need of backcourt bodies. Gillespie and rising sophomore Bishop Boswell are the only two guards currently on the roster. Rick Barnes and his staff will look to add at least two more guards including a starting shooting guard.
The Vols pursued Virginia shooting guard Isaac McKneely and the sharpshooter visited Tennessee last week before committing to Louisville.
Now Rice is one of Tennessee’s top shooting guard targets and the pitch from Gillespie to his former roommate is simple.
“Look at the year we had here together,” Gillespie said. “We were roommates. We’re really close. That’s my pitch. Look at what we’re able to do here in one year. What can we do in two years?”
