Tennessee senior guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie wrapped up his lone season in Knoxville by placing his name in the UT all-time record book and leading the team in scoring. Gillespie averaged a team-high 18.3 points per game while hitting 101 total three-pointers on the year. The 6-foot-1 guard is one of just four players to top the single-season century mark in Tennessee history.
After spending his first two collegiate seasons at Belmont, Gillespie transferred to Maryland for the 2024-2025 season. The Greeneville, TN, native then hit the portal again last offseason and began the process that would ultimately lead to a return to the Volunteer State. Gillespie was in the portal for less than four days before committing to Tennessee.
Yeah, I’m blessed to have the career I did,” Gillespie said after Tennessee’s season-ending loss to Michigan. “I enjoyed every year. I’m forever grateful for Coach Barnes for just bringing me back home and allowing me to be the point guard of a great team. Yeah, just giving me this opportunity, I’m forever grateful for that.”
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Gillespie’s last game in a Tennessee uniform came during the Vols’ 95-62 loss to Michigan on Sunday afternoon in Chicago. Gillespie scored a team-high 21 points with four assists and four rebounds.
He also delivered one of the finest dunks of the season with a screaming posterizer against Michigan forward Yaxel Lendeborg.
JA’KOBI GILLESPIE ALL OVER LENDEBORG 🔥 pic.twitter.com/Z8GbqzlBGZ
— SM Highlights (@SMHighlights1) March 29, 2026
Gillespie ends his career averaging 14.9 points, 4.5 assists, and 2.8 rebounds per game across his three schools. He provided Tennessee with a stabilizing presence this year as star freshman Nate Ament grew into his game. It wasn’t always perfect, but Gillespie was a force for Tennessee and earned First Team All-SEC coaches honors in the process.
Gillespie was also named the SEC Newcomer of the Year, which is the third straight year that Tennessee has won that award (Dalton Knecht 2024, Chaz Lanier 2025).
With Zakai Zeigler leaving in the same offseason that Gillespie arrived in, the incoming transfer was forced to shoulder much of the offensive responsibility for the Vols at the point guard position. Gillespie helped orchestrate Tennessee’s offense through the ebbs and flows of the season as he led the team in scoring.
