Tennessee guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie’s time in Knoxville wasn’t long, but it was impactful. The Greeneville, TN, native returned home last offseason to play his final collegiate season with his home-state team and helped lead the Volunteers to the Elite Eight in postseason play.
Gillespie now has his sights set on the NBA after a year with Rick Barnes and the Tennessee program.
The 2026 NBA Combine is taking place this week in Chicago, IL. The event will feature measurement gathering, on-court testing, and scrimmaging as some of the best prospects around the nation compete to impress league scouts. Gillespie is one of three Tennessee players at the combine this week, alongside Nate Ament and Felix Okpara.
Gillespie’s measurements went official on Tuesday afternoon, thanks to Draft Express’ Jon Chepkevich on social media. The 22-year-old Tennessee guard is 5-foot-11 3/4 and weighs in at 181.8 pounds. He has a 6’4″ wingspan and a 7′ 11.5″ standing reach.
2026 AWS NBA Draft Combine anthro measurements for Tennessee’s Ja’Kobi Gillespie:
5’11 ¾” barefoot, 181.8 pounds with a 6’4” wingspan and 7’11 ½” standing reach pic.twitter.com/8tPJTNW1IV
— Jon Chepkevich (@JonChep) May 12, 2026
More From RTI: Tennessee Basketball Star Nate Ament’s Official Measurements at the NBA Draft Combine
Gillespie played more basketball during his lone year at Tennessee than he did in any other season in his career. He played in all 37 of the Volunteers’ games last year and averaged 34.8 minutes on the court per game. Gillespie averaged 18.4 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 5.4 assists per contest.
After recording just eight points in Tennessee’s season-opening game, Gillespie went on to tally double-digit points in 28 straight games and in 35 of Tennessee’s final 36 games. In the one game that he scored single-digit points after the opener, he also tallied 12 assists as he continued to move the rock and help the offense.
Gillespie scored 20 or more points on 16 occasions during the season, including three of four NCAA tournament games and the Vols’ lone game in the SEC Tournament.
Teams will want to see Gillespie’s impressive shooting on display during the combine, but he did evolve into a well-rounded guard during his time with the Vols. It’ll be interesting to see if any teams are willing to take a chance on him in the second round of the draft in June.
ESPN’s Jeremy Woo released a new mock draft on Sunday night. He’s got Gillespie going as the final pick of the 2026 NBA Draft, No. 60 overall to the Washington Wizards. We’ll see if Gillespie can improve his draft stock over the next few days in the Windy City.
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