Ja’Kobi Gillespie climbed ranks in Tennessee to become top Vols scorer
After starring at Greeneville High School and Belmont University in Tennessee, Ja'Kobi Gillespie now leads his hometown team, the Volunteers, with 18.5 points per game. Courtesy of Tennessee Athletics
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Ja’Kobi Gillespie heaved the ball across the court. His pass found Reid Satterfield with a wide-open 3-point look during Greeneville High School’s (Tennessee) matchup with Knox Halls High School in March 2022.
Rather than taking the shot, Satterfield spotted and fed Ja’Kobi, who snuck behind two defenders toward the hoop, with a bounce pass to the rim. Ja’Kobi slammed down a ferocious one-handed dunk, sending Greeneville’s fans into a frenzy.
One of Ja’Kobi’s football coaches sprinted out of the gym. A friend of his father, Byron Gillespie, tackled Byron in excitement.
The jam gained national notoriety. When Byron was driving to work the next day, he heard over the radio that the play had landed fourth in that morning’s SportsCenter Top 10. Elated, he immediately texted Ja’Kobi.
“I knew what happened the night before,” Byron said. “But that was shocking to hear Scott Van Pelt say, ‘This high school kid made me pay attention.’ And it was Ja’Kobi.”
Ja’Kobi’s career in Tennessee was just beginning. With little Power Five basketball interest out of high school, he settled on Belmont, a mid-major in Nashville. After a strong sophomore season, Ja’Kobi transferred to Maryland for the 2024-25 campaign and helped the Terrapins to their first Sweet 16 since 2016.
Now, having entered the portal again, he’s returned to his home state as No. 13 Tennessee’s starting point guard. Averaging 18.5 points and 5.3 assists through eight games, the senior will lead the Vols into a matchup with Syracuse Tuesday.
“Everybody wanted him to go (to Tennessee),” JaKobi’s mother, Heather Johnson, said. “We had always said that would be a dream come true, and it ended up going full circle.”
Ja’Kobi Gillespie finishes off a transition dunk for Tennessee. In his first season with the Volunteers, Gillespie has led them to a 7-1 record with a team-leading 18.5 points per game. Courtesy of Tennessee Athletics
Ja’Kobi entered this season with a tall task. He had to fill Third Team All-American Zakai Zeigler’s void. He now practices six hours a day to adapt to Southeastern Conference basketball, Johnson said.
During summer practice, Vols forward Felix Okpara helped Ja’Kobi perfect lobs, Greeneville boys basketball coach Brad Woolsey said. Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes also pushed him to “pick it up” defensively, Ja’Kobi mentioned on the Mike Keith Show on Sept. 26.
“Rick’s got 40 players in the NBA now, so I never question anything he says,” Ja’Kobi said. “I try to go out there and just listen to what the coaches are saying.”
That dedication formed through Ja’Kobi’s youth career. His coaches, Jerel Heyward and Jeremy Garner, were often tough on him. Heyward railed at Ja’Kobi for wearing a pair of Nike shoes at an Adidas-sponsored AAU tournament, and Garner got on him for poor defense.
“We were trying to get that pretty boy out of him,” Garner said. “He was a cute little kid, and we were trying to make him into a pitbull.”
Heyward would also show Ja’Kobi YouTube videos of six-time NBA All-Star Damian Lillard’s college workouts to help him improve. Soon enough, Ja’Kobi began to move up Tennessee’s ranks. Greeneville was his next stop.
Though Ja’Kobi played sparingly his freshman year, he exploded as a sophomore in 2020. He initially played shooting guard and small forward, then became Greeneville’s point guard as a senior after Woolsey saw his ball-handling.
His production matched his promotion. Ja’Kobi totaled over 2,000 career points while the Greene Devils claimed back-to-back state titles over Jackson South Side High School in 2021 and 2022. He was also named Tennessee Class 3A Mr. Basketball his senior year — the first player from northeast Tennessee to ever win.
Ja’Kobi’s nationally-recognized dunk garnered attention. But a year earlier, he also held the spotlight to seal Greeneville’s 2021 state championship. In the final minute with the Greene Devils down two, Jackson South Side doubled Ja’Kobi as he drove toward the basket. So, he dished the ball to Satterfield, who kicked it to another teammate for a go-ahead 3.
Ja’Kobi wasn’t done. He was fouled with three seconds left, nearly ensuring a win or tie in regulation with a make. Johnson said she lowered her head and waited for the crowd’s reaction.
She couldn’t watch. So, she didn’t see Ja’Kobi miss. Or scramble to collect the ball.
Woolsey feared Ja’Kobi would commit a foul and send the Hawks to the line. But he corralled the rebound, dribbled out the clock and flung the ball skyward to punctuate Greeneville’s first-ever state title.
“(Ja’Kobi) was the linchpin of it,” Woolsey said of Greeneville’s success. “All his talent definitely made us go.”
Ja’Kobi Gillespie poses with his Greeneville teammates after being named to the 2020 All-Tournament Team. Gillespie helped the Greene Devils to an 89-18 record and averaged 27.3 points per game as a senior. Courtesy of Byron Gillespie
Ja’Kobi also shined as a wide receiver and defensive back in football, his explosiveness and physicality easily translating to basketball, Greeneville football coach Eddie Spradlen said.
Yet, his football talent initially received more recruiting buzz. After “exploding” as a senior, Ja’Kobi earned football offers from Power Four programs in Vanderbilt and Virginia Tech, Spradlen said.
But his family and coaches agreed he was always committed to basketball. Byron joked it would’ve taken a Tennessee offer to choose football.
Ja’Kobi’s path wasn’t easier through basketball, though. His dream to play for his childhood favorite team, North Carolina, was unrealistic, Heyward said. Mid-majors North Alabama, UNC Asheville and Belmont showed interest. Heyward suggested Ja’Kobi could excel there before jumping to a top school.
“I thought it was right up his alley,” Heyward said. “Because he was a late bloomer, with the way the college system is, (he was) totally thinking, ‘Hey, go somewhere and prove yourself, get in the transfer portal potentially.’”
Ultimately, Ja’Kobi decided to stay in Tennessee. At an Under Armour Association tournament in the fall of his senior year, Belmont offered him and set up a visit.
Byron couldn’t accompany Ja’Kobi but urged him not to commit immediately. Ja’Kobi wouldn’t have it. He called his father while on Belmont’s campus, wanting to commit. Though Byron told him they’d discuss it, Ja’Kobi was so eager that Byron caved. Ja’Kobi was headed to Nashville.
But his freshman year at Belmont was rocky. Ja’Kobi was no longer the top guy on the team, Byron said. Instead, he often rode the bench. When he did play, he tried too hard not to mess up.
“Coach be trippin, I can’t get no rhythm,” Byron recalls Ja’Kobi telling him one night.
“He’s being fair. He put you in, and you don’t make any really spectacular plays, why would he put you in?” Byron responded.
Byron told Ja’Kobi to give Belmont’s coaches a reason to leave him in. The advice paid dividends. Ja’Kobi finished the 2022-23 season averaging 9.6 points. A wrist fracture midway through his sophomore year helped him better understand Belmont’s offense during his time on the bench, leading to a 17.2-point and 4.2-assist stat line.
While at Belmont, Ja’Kobi Gillespie drives to the cup against Arizona guard Caleb Love. In 57 games with the Bruins, Gillespie averaged 12.9 points and 3.7 assists per game. Courtesy of Belmont Athletics
After that year, Johnson said Ja’Kobi wanted a bigger challenge. So, he entered the portal in spring 2023. Contrary to his high school recruitment, 20-plus teams called in the first two hours.
Programs offered him large sums of name, image and likeness money, Byron said, including the University of California extending $500,000. But Ja’Kobi cared more about his fit within each team. Maryland was the perfect option. The Terrapins had lost point guard Jahmir Young, opening a spot for Ja’Kobi that competitors like Kansas and Tennessee didn’t have.
He also already knew Maryland freshman Derik Queen from facing him on the UAA circuit, Heyward said. So, with some convincing from Queen, Ja’Kobi chose Maryland.
Ja’Kobi became a reliable starter for the Terrapins, averaging 14.7 points per contest. He along with Maryland’s other four starters — formed the “Crab Five,” a moniker that stuck through UMD’s March Madness run.
But Ja’Kobi’s Maryland career ended on a sour note. During the NCAA Tournament, rumors swirled that Terrapins head coach Kevin Willard was a candidate for Villanova’s vacancy. In Maryland’s Sweet 16 loss to Florida, Ja’Kobi also fouled out.
With Queen, a projected NBA Draft pick, Ja’Kobi helplessly watched as the Crab Five’s time together ended.
“He knew that was probably the last time they were all gonna be playing together,” Johnson said. “It was a fun year, and all of a sudden it was deflated.”
Then, everything unraveled. Willard left for Villanova three days after Maryland’s defeat. Johnson said Ja’Kobi likely would’ve stayed without the late-season drama, but with most of the team disbanded, he hit the portal again.
This time, he was set on coming home. Willard urged Ja’Kobi to choose Villanova, Johnson said. He could’ve even followed his initial dream to UNC — Byron said the Tar Heels were “blowing up his phone.” But Ja’Kobi told Byron he wanted to go to Tennessee, even if it meant leaving money on the table.
Ja’Kobi was welcomed back with open arms. Three weeks after Ja’Kobi’s commitment in April, Heyward saw his students return from a community event with signed Tennessee merchandise.
He asked them who was signing. Then, he noticed Ja’Kobi’s autograph.
Ja’Kobi isn’t the underrecruited point guard he was in high school anymore. Now, everyone in Tennessee knows his name — and they want his signature.
“He hadn’t even played. That’s how I know he inspired other people,” Heyward said. “And he’s gonna keep on doing that.”
