KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – University of Tennessee men’s basketball standout Ja’Kobi Gillespie is on the Lute Olson Award Early Season Watch List, as announced Thursday afternoon.
The award is named in honor of Hall of Fame coach Lute Olson, who won 776 games in 34 seasons. He led Arizona to 11 Pac-10 titles, 23 consecutive NCAA Tournaments, four Final Four appearances and a national championship in 1997.
A senior guard, Gillespie is one of 30 players nationally who made the cut. He joined by four others from the SEC: Arkansas’ Darius Acuff Jr., Auburn’s Keyshawn Hall, Vanderbilt’s Duke Miles and Alabama’s Labaron Philon Jr.
Gillespie is leading the Volunteers in both points (17.8) and assists (5.4) per game. In addition, he is putting up 2.7 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game, while shooting 34.5 percent from beyond the arc.
The 6-foot-1, 188-pounder has scored in double figures in all 11 games for No. 23/20 Tennessee (8-3) this season. Gillespie owns eight 15-point performances, including reaching 17 on seven occasions and 20 in five appearances.
On Nov. 25, in an 85-60 victory over Rutgers at the Players Era Men’s Championship in Las Vegas, Gillespie poured in a career-high 32 points. He went 11-of-20 from the field, including 6-of-10 beyond the arc.
Gillespie was previously named to the preseason watch lists for three national player of the year honors: the Wooden Award, Naismith Trophy and USBWA Oscar Robertson Trophy. A Preseason Second Team All-SEC pick by both the media and the coaches, he is a member of the Bob Cousy Award Top 20 Preseason Watch List.
The recipient of the Lute Olson Award is determined by a 10-member voting committee, which consists of current and former head coaches, as well as two senior staff members of collegeinsider.com. The honoree will be announced in April in Indianapolis at the site of the Final Four.
