A solution at point guard for next season.
Hometown Tennessee quickly emerged as an option for former Maryland point guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie this week. On Friday, he announced that he was coming home.
Kentucky, North Carolina and Villanova all showed interest in Gillespie this week, along with Tennessee. A Greeneville native — growing up just outside of Knoxville — returning to East Tennessee just made a lot of sense. Gillespie will take over at point guard for Rick Barnes, following the legendary Zakai Zeigler.
Gillespie averaged 14.7 points for Maryland this season, adding 4.8 assists while shooting over 40 percent from three-point range. He spent one season at Maryland after starting his college career at Belmont. Gillespie scored over 17 points per game for Belmont as a sophomore.
He made the decision to transfer after his head coach, Kevin Willard, took the Villanova job. Willard was trying to get Gillespie on campus for a visit at Villanova, but instead he opted to shut things down and commit to Tennessee today.
Tennessee still has several spots to fill this portal season with Chaz Lanier, Igor Milicic, Jordan Gainey, Darlinstone Dubar and Jahmai Mashack joining Zeigler with expiring eligibility. The Volunteers have three players in the class of 2025 set to enter the program.
So point guard? Acquired. Next up will be shooting guards/wings to fill out the rest of the starting five, along with some depth pieces to round out the roster.