By JOHN MOOREHOUSE
Welcome to Next Level Locals, where we take a look at area athletes who have moved on to success at the college or pro level.
The new college basketball season tips off tonight and five athletes with ties to Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia find themselves on Division I rosters.
We wanted to take a look at each.
It’s been a long and winding road for the 6-1 senior Gillespie, a two-time transfer who finally is suiting up for the college close to his home in Greeneville. Gillespie capped his career at Greeneville High by winning the TSSAA state title in Class 3A and being named Mr. Basketball for that classification. He originally signed with Belmont, where, as a freshman, he was one of nine rookies in all of Division I in 2022-23 to amass at least 300 points, 100 assists, and 45 steals. As a sophomore at Belmont, Gillespie led the team in per-game average for scoring, assists, steals, and minutes. He also became the first D-I player in three decades to average at least 17 points and 2 steals per game, while also shooting 56% or better from the field, 38% on 3-pointers, and 83% from the line. Gillespie then transferred to Maryland, helping the Terps post their highest win total in nine years and reach the Sweet 16. In 2024-25, he was one of just two players in the nation to make at least 80 3-pointers, compile an assist rate of 27% or higher, and average at least 1.9 steals. The other guy? Braden Smith at Purdue, who was named national point guard of the year. He’s projected to start at point guard for the Vols, and play major minutes.
This writer got to see Thompson in person several times last season, and he’s as good as advertised. The 6-8 freshman from Greeneville bypassed his final year at Greeneville High and reclassified to enroll at Iowa as a 17-year-old. Why not? Individually, Thompson had accomplished about everything possible at the high-school level, aside from a state title. A two-time Mr. Basketball runner up, Thompson set the Greeneville program records for scoring (2,227 points) and rebounds (984) in just three seasons. The Hawkeyes beat out a slew of Division I power schools for Thompson, who looks to carve out a role off the bench this season for first-year Iowa coach Ben McCollum.
A 5-7 freshman, McAmis joins the Lady Bucs after an outstanding body of work at Wise Central under longtime coach Robin Dotson. She closed her prep career by leading the Lady Warriors to back-to-back state titles in Virginia’s 2A division, and a third state title when McAmis was a freshman in 2021-22. She’s the all-time leading scorer in Central’s program history with more than 3,041 career points. That total also leads all players to ever come out of Wise County, all players in Southwest Virginia, and ranks second all-time in the state.
Oliver, a 6-5 sophomore, heads into his second season with the Ospreays. He spent one year at Dobyns-Bennett, in 2022-23, helping the Indians — the defending Class AAA state champions in Tennessee at the time — make a return trip to the state tournament. At the same time, his dad, Dez Oliver, was head coach of the ETSU basketball squad. Oliver spent 2023-24 at IMG Academy in Florida. Last year, as a freshman at UNF, Oliver appeared in 29 games off the bench, averaging 0.9 points, 1.4 rebounds, and 0.5 assists in 7.0 minutes.
The 5-10 redshirt freshman Mains spent her formative years in the Tri-Cities while her dad, Travis, coached the girls’ basketball team at Daniel Boone. She went on to play for her dad at Catholic in Knoxville then signed with FAU last year, where she logged three appearances before taking a medical redshirt due to a knee injury. Mains transferred to Mizzou, following her coach at FAU, Jennifer Sullivan, who accepted a job as an assistant under former Lady Vol player and coach Kellie Harper.