Belmont guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie transferred to Maryland men’s basketball on Wednesday, he announced on X.
Gillespie is currently ranked the No. 14 player to enter the transfer portal this offseason by 247Sports and No. 11 by On3. He spoke with Maryland’s coaching staff over Zoom on Tuesday and visited in person last weekend, according to 247Sports. The sophomore has two years of eligibility remaining.
Gillespie picked the Terps despite hearing from a number of other high-major programs after entering the transfer portal, such as Indiana, Kansas, UCLA, Alabama, Virginia Tech and Florida.
The 6-foot-1 Greeneville, Tennessee, native committed to Belmont out of high school. He averaged 17.2 points, 3.8 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 2.2 steals per game for the Bruins last season. He shot 38.7 percent from three-point range on 4.2 attempts per game.
Gillespie also shot 56.1 percent from the field during his sophomore campaign. His 63.4 percent effective field goal percentage, which accounts for the extra value of a made three-pointer, would have been the best of any Maryland player last season by a wide margin, according to KenPom.
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His 2.2 steals per game last season led the Missouri Valley Conference. He earned All-Missouri Valley Conference second team, defensive team and most-improved team honors. The Bruins went 18-7 with Gillespie in the lineup and 3-5 while he was out with a wrist injury in January.
Gillespie also received offers from Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech and Eastern Kentucky coming out of high school, where he became the first player from northeast Tennessee to be named the state’s Mr. Basketball in the 37-year history of the award.
Transfers from the Missouri Valley Conference had a large impact throughout the Big Ten’s 2023-24 season.
Former Southern Illinois guard/forward Marcus Domask was named to the All-Big Ten first team by the coaches in his first season at Illinois. His former teammate, Lance Jones, started for No. 3 Purdue this season and was an All-Big Ten honorable mention. Former Bradley forward Rienk Mast helped Nebraska to an NCAA tournament appearance and earned All-Big Ten third team honors.
Gillespie will be Maryland’s second incoming transfer of the offseason. The Terps currently have one scholarship spot open following the departures of Noah Batchelor, Caelum Swanton-Rodger and Jahnathan Lamothe and the addition of Rodney Rice in the transfer portal.
