National outlet predicts Tennessee Vols to land impact player from the Big Ten in transfer portal
It was a tough ending to the season for the Tennessee Volunteers, falling just short of the program's first ever Final Four with a 69-50 loss to Houston on Sunday. However, with the transfer portal and recruiting, collegiate athletics are as much of a full year sport as ever, and the Vols could be on […]
It was a tough ending to the season for the Tennessee Volunteers, falling just short of the program's first ever Final Four with a 69-50 loss to Houston on Sunday.
However, with the transfer portal and recruiting, collegiate athletics are as much of a full year sport as ever, and the Vols could be on the verge of getting some terrific news in the coming days.
On3 Sports' Pete Nakos has logged a prediction for Rick Barnes to land the services of star Maryland transfer guard Ja'Kobi Gillespie in the transfer portal.
Nakos listed his prediction with 70% confidence, which is interesting as most crystal ball predictions come in around 60%.
Gillespie was a logical tie to the Vols as soon as it was announced on Monday that he was entering the transfer portal. Gillespie is from nearby Greeneville, Tennessee and started off his career with Belmont before transferring to Maryland.
He had a very strong season last year for the Terrapins, earning third-team All-Big Ten honors with 14.7 points per game, second on the Terps' roster. In 2023-24 with Belmont, he led the Ohio Valley Conference in field goal percentage (56.1%) and steals per game (2.2) while averaging 17.2 points per game.
If anything was obvious about the Vols' issues in 2024-25, it was the lack of a consistent scorer, someone who could put the team on his back and carry them when the rest of the team was in a funk. Chaz Lanier had waves of strong performances, but he went cold for stretches several times when the Vols needed him.
Replacing Tennessee's stable of senior guards was always going to be the main challenge of the offseason, but adding Gillespie would be a big first step towards addressing that big roster hole, and quickly.
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