Highly touted transfer point guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie committed to Tennessee basketball on Friday afternoon. The 6-foot-1, 186-pound guard committed to Tennessee just four days after officially entering the portal as Rick Barnes and his staff locked down a commitment from one of the top players in the portal.
Gillespie was a Third Team All-Big 10 selection a season ago, averaging 14.7 points, 4.8 assists and 1.9 steals per game for Maryland. Gillespie is a fantastic three-point shooter. He made 87 triples last season for the Terrapins at a 40.7% clip.
While Gillespie is a fantastic three-point shooter, he is also a true point guard. He posted a 27.3% assist rate that ranked 123rd nationally and ranked fifth in the Big 10 in assists per game. The point guard is also a plus defender which is incredibly important as Tennessee replaces Zakai Zeigler, Jordan Gainey and Jahmai Mashack in the backcourt.
The rising senior point guard has posted a 3.5% steal rate in all three of his college seasons. For perspective, Mashack posted a 3.7% steal rate and Zeigler posted a 3.5% steal rate last season.
Tennessee and Gillespie were a natural match. Gillespie is a Greeneville, Tennessee native and grew up just 70 miles from Knoxville. With the Vols losing Zeigler to graduation, they need a high-level point guard to run the show going forward.
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The Vols found just that in Gillespie. The East Tennessee native is a proven highly effective point guard at the highest level of college basketball. Gillespie led the Terrapins to their first Sweet 16 since 2016 this season, scoring 20-plus points six times over the course of the season and had a points-assist double-double in a Maryland win over Syracuse.
Prior to his season at Maryland, Gillespie spent two seasons in Nashville playing at Belmont. He averaged 17.2 points, 4.2 assists and 2.2 steals per game in his sophomore season.
Gillespie is not only one of the top point guards but is one of the top players in the entire transfer portal. EvanMiya.com ranks Gillespie as a five-star transfer and the No. 1 player in the portal while On3 ranks Gillespie as a four-star and the No. 48 player in the portal.
The former Greeneville High School standout has just one year of eligibility remaining at the moment, but if the NCAA approves a fifth year of eligibility for all players then Gillespie will have two years of eligibility remaining.
Gillespie is Tennessee’s first commit out of the transfer portal this offseason. The Vols now have five scholarships to work with as Barnes and his staff look to fill out their roster for next season. Tennessee had three scholarships open this season, lose six seniors to graduation and have three incoming freshman.
