Tennessee basketball announced the signing of Maryland point guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie on Monday morning, just three days after he committed to the Vols out of the transfer portal.
The 6-foot-1, 186-pound point guard is one of the top players in the transfer portal after leading Maryland to the Sweet 16 in his lone season in College Park. Gillespie averaged 14.7 points, 4.8 assists and 1.9 steals for the Terrapins last weekend and made 87 three-pointers on an impressive 40.7% shooting from three-point range.
A Greeneville, Tennessee native, Gillespie was Rick Barnes and the Vols’ top targets in the transfer portal as they look to replace star point guard Zakai Zeigler. Landing Gillespie was a highly important piece for Tennessee as they construct its roster for next season.
“We are thrilled to welcome Ja’Kobi to Rocky Top, a place he and his wonderful family know well as East Tennessee natives who bleed orange. Ja’Kobi is a high-character young man who fits our program and truly wants to be a Volunteer,” Barnes said in a statement. “A dynamic point guard who can really shoot the ball from deep and get his teammates involved, Ja’Kobi is a fearless competitor with a high basketball IQ. We expect him to help lead our team from day one and we feel quite fortunate to have him as a part of our program.”
Barnes and Tennessee assistant coaches went to Greeneville to meat with Gillespie and his family for a three hour lunch last week. That meeting proved beneficial as Tennessee was able to lock down his commitment before a potential visit to Villanova.
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The chance to come back and play for the program he grew up cheering for was something Gillespie couldn’t turn down.
“I just feel like it was a no brainer for me. For just being in this situation, I wasn’t even thinking I’d be leaving in a month then my coach leaves and boom Tennessee is in the picture,” Gillespie told RTI. “Once I thought about it— I thought about Villanova and Tennessee. I was just thinking about it and Tennessee, every time I thought about it I got excited and was just ready to go. It was kind of easy for me to decide.”
A Third Team All-Big 10 selection last season, Gillespie scored 20-plus points six times over the course of the season and had a points-assist double-double in a Maryland win over Syracuse.
Gillespie is not only one of the top point guards but is one of the top players in the entire transfer portal. EvanMiya.com ranks Gillespie as a five-star transfer and the No. 2 player in the portal while 247sports ranks him as a four-star and the No. 7 player in the portal.
The point guard was the first player to commit to Tennessee basketball in the portal and Vanderbilt forward Jaylen Carey followed suit on Friday night. Tennessee now has four scholarships to work with as they fill out the roster for the 2025-26 season.
