Tennessee basketball has been recruiting the transfer portal hard, with six scholarship spots available on next year's roster. That has led to Tennessee signing a talented guard on Friday.
Ja'Kobi Gillespie has been one of several names on Tennessee's transfer portal shortlist, and he's the first player to commit to the Vols during this cycle.
On3 Sports confirmed Gillespie's commitment to Tennessee as the Vols revamp its roster. He's a top-50 player in the transfer portal and widely considered one of the best guards available.
The 6-foot-1, 186-pound guard entered the transfer portal after his former head coach, Kevin Willard, announced he was leaving Maryland for Villanova. Gillespie has been in the portal for less than a week, but after visiting Knoxville, Rick Barnes and company made sure to lock down his commitment.
Gillespie is a highly talented three-point shooter out of Maryland, following the trend of players Barnes recruits out of the portal. This past year, he averaged 14.7 points, 4.8 assists, and 1.9 steals per game while averaging 40.7% from three-point range.
He comes to Knoxville with one year of eligibility remaining but brings a lot of experience with him on both ends of the court. He led Maryland to a 27-9 record before losing in the Sweet 16 to 1-seed Florida.
Gillespie is a good defender and will bring a strong defensive presence in a role where he will have to replace two-time SEC Defensive Player of the Year Zakai Zeigler.
The Vols will now look to combine Gillespie's play style with the rest of the roster and hope to find a few more players out of the portal to add to the roster.
Tennessee has five scholarships remaining now that Gillespie has committed. The Vols will continue to look for guards to fill their depth in the backcourt, with Bishop Boswell being the only other guard on the roster, excluding other incoming players.