Tennessee point guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie is one of five college players to split the USBWA National Player of the Week honors for his performances in the Vols’ wins over Louisville and Gardner-Webb. Gillespie split the honor with Texas Tech’s Christian Anderson, Gonzaga’s Braden Huff, NC State’s Paul McNeil and Seton Hall’s Stephon Payne.
Gillespie averaged 19 points, seven assists and three rebounds in Tennessee’s two wins last week. He scored a game-high 23 points along with five assists in three rebounds in the Vols’ bounce back win over Louisville. He followed it up with 15 points, nine assists and three rebounds in 24 minutes against Gardner-Webb.
The senior point guard earned co-SEC Player of the Week honors with Kentucky wing Otega Oweh on Monday before splitting the national honor on Tuesday.
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It’s the first time this season that a Tennessee player has landed on the USBWA National Player of the Week team. However, Chaz Lanier did it twice last season and Dalton Knecht did it twice during the 2023-24 season.
Now through 12 games this season, Gillespie is averaging a team-best 17.6 points per game on 42% shooting from the field and 35% shooting from three-point range. He’s also added 5.7 points and 2.8 rebounds per game while he’s also turning it over 2.8 times per game.
Gillespie transferred to Tennessee last offseason after playing his first two collegiate seasons at Belmont and his junior year at Maryland where he earned Third Team All-Big 10 honors.
Tennessee basketball is off to a 9-3 start to the season with power five victories against Rutgers, Houston and Louisville. The Vols’ three losses came against Kansas, Syracuse and Illinois in consecutive games.
