Ja’Kobi Gillespie is easy to like. He is a right-handed point guard that can also score. Gillespie averaged 18.4 points, 2.8 rebounds, 5.4 assists, and 2.1 steals per game while shooting 36.1% from three-point range for his career and 81.4% from the free throw line this season. He was named First Team All-SEC and finished fifth in SEC box score plus/minus. At 6'0" with a 6'4" wingspan and a 181-pound frame, Gillespie is small by NBA point guard standards. Still, he plays hard, gets steals at a high rate, and brings enough offensive skill to be taken seriously. His 2.36-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio reflects a guard that can run a team while still looking for his own offense. Gillespie played two seasons at Belmont, then one at Maryland, and one at Tennessee. He loves to shoot the three and led the SEC in three-point field goal attempts. Defensively, his DDiff was minus-1.4, so there are some concerns about how his size will translate, but the effort and activity are there. He posted a 39.5" max vertical at the 2026 NBA Draft Combine. With his shooting, toughness, ball skill, playmaking, and ability to create steals, we view Gillespie as a potential top-tier reserve point guard in the NBA. We anticipate he will be drafted in the middle of round two.
