KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – For the first time this season, a member of the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team is the SEC Player of the Week.
Senior guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie garnered the recognition, as announced Monday afternoon by the league. He shared the plaudit with Kentucky’s Otega Oweh.
This is the fourth SEC weekly honor of the 2025-26 campaign for the Volunteers, as forward Nate Ament already owns three SEC Freshman of the Week nods.
Gillespie averaged 19.0 points, 7.0 assists and 3.0 rebounds per game across a pair of dominant Tennessee home wins last week, while shooting 40.0 percent from beyond the arc. He paced all players in assists in both games, while solely leading the way in scoring in one game and co-leading all scorers in the other.
First, Gillespie posted 23 points, five assists and three rebounds Tuesday night in a commanding 83-62 victory against No. 11 Louisville. He dropped 20 points in the second half alone and finished 10-of-10 at the free-throw line, becoming the first Volunteer to log double-digit makes without a miss since Jaden Springer on Feb. 24, 2021.
The Greeneville, Tenn., native followed that performance by tallying 15 points, a season-high nine assists and one steal Sunday afternoon in a thorough 94-52 decision versus Gardner-Webb. The 6-foot-1, 188-pounder achieved that line in just 24 minutes of action.
Gillespie is the 14th different Volunteer to win SEC Player of the Week in head coach Rick Barnes‘ 11-year tenure on Rocky Top, including the first since Chaz Lanier on Feb. 24, 2025. Those 14 competitors have totaled 25 combined honors.
Tennessee has recorded at least one SEC Player of the Week accolade in all but one season (2020-21) since the 2005-06 campaign.
Gillespie and No. 19/20 Tennessee (9-3) are in the midst of an eight-day break without games before turning to action Dec. 30 at 8 p.m. against South Carolina State, live on SEC Network from Food City Center.
