Worth noting that the transfer portal for basketball opens in less than a month, on April 7. We will track the changes for our local players and teams, just as we did with football, in a new Transfer Portal Report.
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Ja’Kobi Gillespie, Tennessee
Named first-team All-Southeastern Conference by the league’s coaches on Monday, Gillespie (18.0 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 5.6 apg, 2.1 spg, .400 FG, .332 3PT, .818 FT) has spent his lone campaign in Knoxville putting together some impressive individual numbers. He’s reached double digits in scoring 29 times in the Vols’ 31 contests in the regular season. Going into the SEC tournament, Gillespie ranked in the top 10 in XX categories, including scoring (7th), assists (2nd), assist-to-turnover ratio (2.4-1, 7tth), steals (2nd), and minutes (34.3 mpg, 2nd). He played more total minutes — 1,063 — than any other player in the SEC. Arkansas freshman Darius Acuff, Jr., our SEC Insider’s choice as both player of the year and freshman of the year in the league, averaged more minutes (34.7 ppg) but appeared in one fewer game and logged 1,041 minutes.
Trey Thompson, Iowa
After reclassifying to the 2025 class last summer and bypassing his final year of high school eligibility, the Greeneville, TN, native Thompson has spent the entire season on the sidelines and will redshirt. Recently, Thompson and Iowa coach Ben McCollum discussed Thompson’s status with reporters in Iowa.
“We expected him to play this year and play considerable minutes,” McCollum told The Gazette on Tuesday. “He just wasn’t quite ready defensively, and we didn’t want to burn his year.”
Thompson spent about a month dealing with an illness, which helped seal the program’s decision to redshirt him this season. “I think get being pushed every single day in practice here is just it’s so much better for me,” he told The Gazette. “I’m getting better every day I get to work out with the best assistant coaches in the country, in my opinion. They push me, they correct me and then we have a little bit of fun every now and then. So it’s not too bad.”
B.J.Edwards, SMU
Edwards, who grew up in Johnson City, played his high school ball at Knox Catholic, started his college career at Tennessee, then transferred to SMU, is nearing the end of his college career — and, unless the Mustangs make a run in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, it will end short of the 2026 NCAA Tournament. Edwards (12.7 ppg, 5.9 ppg, 4.9 apg, 2.3 spg, 33.3 mpg, .474 FG, .372 3PT, .771 FT) has been a key player for SMU throughout his three seasons in Dallas, starting 93 times in 96 games played. Through the end of the regular season, he ranked seventh in the ACC in assists, fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.6-1), tops in steals, and seventh in minutes played per game.
Dante Oliver, UNF
Oliver, who suited up for Dobyns-Bennett while his father was head coach at ETSU, saw action in all 31 games for UNF this season. Oliver averaged 2.5 points, 1.4 assists, and 12.7 minutes while shooting 40.3% from the field, .38.9% from 3, and 60% at the line. He dropped 11 points against Lipscomb back on Jan. 3 — a career high and his first college game reaching double digits.
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Emmah McAmis, ETSU
A record-setting scorer at the high school level for Wise Central, McAmis found a role for the Bucs. She appeared in 24 games, averaging 3.9 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.0 assist in 15.0 minutes per game, while shooting 31.4% from the field, 21.9% from 3, and 75% on free throws. McAmis had arguably her best collegiate game in the quarterfinals of the Southern Conference tournament: 12 points on 4-for-6 shooting from the field including a perfect 3 of 3 finish from 3-point range in 19 minutes. ETSU fell short of the SoCon title but, as conference regular-season champion, could find its way into one of the lesser postseason events.
Amaya Redd, Tennessee Tech
Redd, a Johnson City native who spent her prep career at Knox Catholic, where she totaled more than 1,000 points, 700 rebounds, and 250 assists, carved out a role in the rotation off the bench for the Golden Eagles. Redd contributed 4.6 points in 13.3 minutes per game, also averaging 3.4 rebounds and shooting 39.1% from the floor, 28.6% from 3, and 52.6% at the line.
Sydney Mains, Missouri
Mains, who grew up in Washington County and went on to be a TSSAA Miss Basketball winner and three-time finalist playing for her father at Knox Catholic, did not play this season as she continued to recover from knee surgery. Mains transferred to Mizzou over the summer, where former Lady Vol player and coach Kellie Harper helms the program, from FAU.