Ja’Kobi Gillespie was playing in the Sweet 16 for Maryland against Florida last Thursday. Eight days later, Gillespie committed to Tennessee basketball out of the transfer portal. It was a chaotic week for Gillespie after Maryland head coach Kevin Willard left for Villanova.
An East Tennessee native, Gillespie entered the portal on Monday and was heavily considering both hometown Tennessee and following his head coach to Villanova before committing to the Vols.
“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 on Friday afternoon. “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.”
Gillespie is a Greeneville native and grew up a Tennessee fan, going to multiple Vol football games every year. He played his first two college seasons at Belmont before transferring to Maryland ahead of last season. The 6-foot-1 point guard is finally headed to his favorite school growing up for his senior season.
“It means a lot,” Gillespie said of coming home. “Even you saying that (he’s coming home) just now, it gets me super excited. Coming back home, finally, I had to leave from Belmont to go to Maryland and now I’m finally coming back home. It feels like a relief and it finally happened. It’s always been a dream.”
Gillespie doesn’t have any favorite Tennessee football memories because of the program’s struggles growing up. But relatablely to Vol fans, Gillespie joked about a least favorite memory.
“I’ll say my worst memory, because when I was around— it (football) got good after I went to college,” Gillespie said. “But when they lost to Baker Mayfield and Oklahoma, I was at that game. He came up to the section I was in and was doing his hand thing he did.”
Rick Barnes and his staff quickly targeted Gillespie in the transfer portal as they look to replace All-SEC point guard Zakai Zeigler. Barnes and multiple members of the Vols’ coaching staff traveled to Greeneville earlier this week for a three-hour lunch with Gillespie and his family.
The highly touted transfer guard used the lunch to learn more about Barnes and what his fit would be with Tennessee basketball.
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“I really just enjoyed their company and how bad they needed me, they said. I would be the point guard and they would build around me. It was really good,” Gillespie said. “Then Rick Barnes told me a lot about himself and told me a lot of stories. I just know he’s a great coach and he’s seen a lot because he’s been coaching for a long time. I just know he’s going to make me a lot better player.
“He’s been doing this for a really long time. He’s really seen it all. I know people say that but I think he really has seen it all. He’s just a coach I couldn’t pass up playing for.”
Gillespie made the transition from OVC to Big 10 seamlessly last season, averaging 14.7 points, 4.8 assists and 1.9 steals per game on his way to earning Third Team All-Big 10 honors.
While the results spoke for themselves, Gillespie noted there were a lot of changes for him on the court. Maryland runs an offense drastically different from Belmont and Gillespie said that Tennessee’s is somewhere in the middle.
Gillespie came to Maryland as a combo guard that played more off the ball as a scorer. He did that for the Terrapins, shooting 40.7% from three-point range. But Gillespie also became a true point guard in his year at Maryland, finishing in the top five in the Big 10 in assists per game.
Barnes is known for coaching point guards and improving as a lead guard is one of Gillespie’s biggest goals next season for Tennessee.
“It’s a huge emphasis,” Gillespie said. “It makes my teammates better and opens up stuff for me. It’s a huge emphasis that I need to keep working on it.”
Gillespie is Tennessee basketball’s first commit in the transfer portal. They now have five scholarships to work with as they fill their roster for next season. One of the top transfers this offseason, Gillespie is a fantastic starting point for Barnes and his staff.
