Maryland transfer shooting guard Rodney Rice will have a familiar face with him as he visits Tennessee basketball this weekend. Tennessee transfer point guard signee Ja’Kobi Gillespie will join his Maryland teammate and roommate on the visit, Gillespie told RTI on Tuesday afternoon.
Rice is one of Tennessee’s top transfer portal targets as they look to add off ball guards to replace Chaz Lanier, Jordan Gainey and Jahmai Mashack.
The 6-foot-4 rising junior is one of the top shooting guard available in the transfer portal after averaging 13.8 points and 2.2 rebounds in his sophomore season at Maryland. Over the last 20 games of Maryland’s season, Rice averaged 15.5 points per game while helping lead the Terrapins to the program’s first Sweet 16 appearance since 2016.
Gillespie and Rice combined to be one of the Big 10’s best backcourts last season. The duo combined to average 31.1 points per game in 20 Big 10 games while shooting 39% from three-point range. They were also roommates and great friends at Maryland and now Gillespie is leading the charge to recruit Rice.
“That’s my roommate so we’re super close,” Gillespie said of Rice last week. “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.”
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The two helped lead Maryland to its first Sweet 16 appearance since 2016 last season. Both guards entered the transfer portal after Terrapins head coach Kevin Willard left to become the new head coach at Villanova.
“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?”
Rice is one of the top players available in the transfer portal with 247sports ranking him as a four-star and the No. 21 player in the portal, On3 ranking him as a four-star and the No. 30 player in the portal and EvanMiya ranking him as a four-star and the No. 73 player available in the portal.
Gillespie is a near consensus top 10 prospect in the transfer portal after averaging 14.7 points and 4.8 assists per games on his way to earning Third Team All-Big 10 honors.
Tennessee basketball has landed two players in the transfer portal to date— Gillespie and Vanderbilt power forward Jaylen Carey. Rick Barnes and his staff currently have four scholarships to work with as they fill out their roster for the 2025-26 season.
