Tennessee basketball has the chance to roster the best player in college basketball this season.
The Wooden Award, annually given to the most outstanding player in the sport, had odds released for who the preseason favorites are to win the award. The list of 54 players included two Vols toward the top of the list, according to DraftKings.
Ja’Kobi Gillespie, a Maryland transfer in his first year with Tennessee, has +3000 odds to win, a tie for the 12th-best in the nation. This is the third-best odds in the SEC behind just Otega Oweh of Kentucky and Boogie Fland of Florida.
Nate Ament, a five-star freshman who ranks as the No. 4 player in the class on Rivals, is also listed. The first-year Vol has +5000 odds. This ties him for the 20th-best odds in the country and fifth in the SEC behind Oweh, Fland, Gillespie, Tahaad Pettiford of Auburn and DJ Wagner of Arkansas.
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Gillespie joins Tennessee after two years at Belmont and one at Maryland. With the Bruins, he averaged 17.2 points per game as a sophomore on 56.1% shooting from the field and 38.7% on 3-pointers. He also averaged 4.2 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game.
Last year, Gillespie played his lone season with the Terrapins. He averaged 14.7 points per game on 45.3% shooting from the field and 40.7% from range. This went with 4.8 assists and 2.8 rebounds per outing.
Now, after being courted by most top programs around the country in the transfer portal, Gillespie joins the Vols as a projected starting point guard in an attempt to replace Zakai Zeigler. The Tennessee native already has earned All-B1G Ten Third Team and NABC All-District First Team honors in his career.
Ament joins the team as the top freshman in an impressive cycle on the trail for Rick Barnes. He picked Tennessee over the likes of Duke, Louisville, Kentucky and Arkansas.
Out of Warrenton, Virginia, Ament was named Gatorade VA Boys Basketball Player of the Year during his senior season. He averaged 18.9 points, 10 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.2 blocks through 45 games, leading his high school to the Virginia Independent School Athletic Association Division I state championship.
He was also named a McDonald’s All-American, where he dropped 12 points on 50% shooting and two made 3-pointers in the showcase game.
