The San Antonio Spurs selected Tennessee point guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie with the 12th pick in the second round (42nd overall) in the 2026 NBA Draft on Wednesday night.
Gillespie is coming off a terrific senior season at Tennessee where he averaged 18.4 points, 5.4 assists and 2.8 rebounds on his way to earning All-SEC honors. The Greeneville, Tennessee native also broke the Vols’ single-season steal record with 79 steals during the 2025-26 season.
The 6-foot guard is small in stature but has deep range on his jump shot and is terrific at finishing at the rim with impressive balance. Gillespie shot 41% from the field, 34% from three-point range and 81% from the foul line in his lone season at Tennessee. He’s a 36% career three-point shooter.
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Gillespie was terrific while leading Tennessee back to the Elite Eight for a third straight season. He averaged 21.8 points and 5.3 assists in the Vols’ four NCAA Tournament games.
The East Tennessee native spent just the final year of his college career as a Vols. A lowly rated recruit coming out of high school, Gillespie spent the first two years of his career at Belmont before transferring to Maryland where he earned Third Team All-Big 10 honors while helping lead the Terrapins to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2016.
Gillespie is the second Vol off the board in the 2026 NBA Draft. The Milwaukee Bucks selected Tennessee wing Nate Ament with the 13th pick on Tuesday night. Tennessee center Felix Okpara will also likely hear his name called on Wednesday night.
Gillespie joins a San Antonio Spurs team that won the western conference last season before losing to the New York Knicks in five games in the NBA Finals. One of the Spurs’ biggest flaws last season was their lack of quality bench guards. Gillespie should have a chance to come in and compete for a roster spot despite being a second round pick.
