A pair of Tennessee basketball players landed on the Preseason Coaches All-SEC Teams Thursday morning. The SEC’s coaches voted both Ja’Kobi Gillespie and Nate Ament on Second Team ahead of the 2025-26 season.
The duo also landed on the preseason second team voted on by the league’s media earlier this month. A senior point guard, Gillespie projects as one of the nation’s best point guards and was one of 20 point guards named to the Cousy Award Preseason Watch List earlier this week.
A freshman wing, Ament was one of 20 small forwards named to the Julius Irving Award Preseason Watch List earlier this week.
Gillespie transferred to Tennessee from Maryland earlier this offseason after earning Third Team All-Big 10 honors a season ago. The Greenville native averaged 14.7 points, 4.8 assists and 1.9 steals per game for Maryland a season ago. A fantastic three-point shooter, Gillespie made 87 triples last season for the Terrapins at a 40.7% clip.
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The top ranked signee in Tennessee history, Ament ranked as a five-star recruit and the No. 4 player in the country according to the 247sports composite rankings. A Warrenton native, Ament ranks as the top player in the state of Virginia and the No. 1 power forward in the 2025 cycle.
Tennessee comes in at No. 18 in the preseason AP Poll and No. 17 in the preseason Coaches Poll. Analytic based sites are a bit higher on Tennessee than the voters. KenPom has Tennessee No. 9 in its preseason rankings, BartTorvik has Tennessee No. 13 in its preseason rankings and EvanMiya has Tennessee No. 15 in its preseason rankings.
Expectations are again high for Tennessee entering the season despite losing four of five starters and five of its top seven players from last season’s Elite Eight team. Ament and Gillespie are the headliners but Tennessee’s front court as the potential to be on the SEC’s best. Shooting guard and overall floor spacing remain the biggest questions for Tennessee entering the season.
The Vols non conference schedule includes matchups against Rutgers, Houston, Syracuse, Illinois and Louisville. Tennessee’s SEC slate will again be very difficult with multiple matchups with Kentucky, Alabama and Vanderbilt
