Ja’Kobi Gillespie learned his NBA destination on Wednesday.
The Greeneville, TN, native was chosen by the San Antonio Spurs with the 42nd overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. As noted last week, Gillespie becomes the first Northeast Tennessee athlete taken in the modern era of the NBA Draft and the first overall since Johnson City’s Gary Carter went to the Clippers in the fifth round of the 1982 Draft.
On how Gillespie fits with the reigning Western Conference champs, CBS Sports wrote:
“Gillespie is a former football player who brings that DNA to the hardwood. He’s tough, competitive and plays with a snarl.”
The CBS Sports analysis went on to compare Gillespie with Payton Pritchard, currently with the Boston Celtics, adding, “For a Spurs roster that needs more shot-makers, Gillespie makes sense.”
Gillespie spent his four-year college career at three Division I programs: two years at Belmont, then 2024-25 at Maryland, and this past season at Tennessee. He flourished for the Vols, starting every game and rarely leaving the floor — his 34.7 minute average ranked fourth all time in program history. Gillespie (18.4 ppg, 5.4 apg, 2.8 rpg, 2.1 spg, .810 FT)led Tennessee in scoring, assists, steals, made 3-pointers (103 of 305), free throw percentage, assist-to-turnover ratio, and minutes.
He was named the Southeastern Conference Newcomer of the Year, voted first-team All-SEC by the coaches, and named to the All-SEC second team by The Associated Press. He became the first Vol to total at least 650 points and 200 assists in a season, and just the second in program history to average 18 points and five assists per game. Perhaps his most impressive statistical feat: becoming the first SEC player ever to dish at least 200 assists while sinking 100 made 3-pointers in a single season. He also became the first SEC player, and just the second D-I player overall in three decades, to amass 29 points, nine assists, and three steals in an NCAA Tournament game, reaching those totals against Miami of Ohio.
At Maryland, Gillespie started every game in 2024-25 and helped the Terrapins advance all the way to the Sweet 16 for the first time in nine years. Gillespie won multiple honors from the Missouri Valley Conference in each of his two campaigns at Belmont.
Before all that, at Greeneville High School, he helped the Greene Devils win back-to-back state titles and captured the TSSAA Mr. Basketball award in Class 3A, the first Northeast Tennessee player to receive that accolade.