KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – University of Tennessee men’s basketball newcomer Ja’Kobi Gillespie is on the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Top 20 Preseason Watch List, as released Monday afternoon by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
A 6-foot-1, 188-pound senior out of nearby Greeneville, Tenn., Gillespie is in his first year with the Volunteers after transferring in from Maryland.
The annual Bob Cousy Award, named after the Class of 1971 Hall of Famer and former Boston Celtic and Holy Cross guard, celebrates its 23rd year by highlighting the top point guard in Division I men’s college basketball.
The 2025-26 preseason list for the Cousy Award features seven players from the SEC and 13 from the remainder of the conferences nationwide. The other SEC selections are Arkansas’ Darius Acuff, Florida’s Boogie Fland, Mississippi State’s Josh Hubbard, Kentucky’s Jaland Lowe, Auburn’s Tahaad Pettiford and Alabama’s Labaron Philon Jr.
Six of those players—Fland, Gillespie, Hubbard, Lowe, Pettiford and Philon—were among the 15 Preseason All-SEC designees. Gillespie was a second-team choice, as well as Tennessee freshman forward Nate Ament.
Last year, Gillespie earned Third Team All-Big Ten plaudits with the Terrapins. He averaged 14.7 points, 4.8 assists, 2.8 rebounds and 1.9 steals in 31.6 minutes per game.
Gillespie, who helped Maryland reach the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2016, shot 45.3 percent from the field, 40.7 percent beyond the arc and 86.2 percent at the line. He became the third Big Ten player in the last 35 seasons (1990-2025) to average at least 14.5 points, 4.5 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game while shooting at least 40.0 percent from 3-point range, joining Ohio State’s D’Angelo Russell (2014-15) and Wisconsin’s Tracy Webster (1991-92).
The Bob Cousy Award Midseason Top 10 List will be announced in late January, with the finalists named in March and the winner revealed at the Final Four. Each round, including the initial preseason watch list, features fan voting at hoophallawards.com, with ballots opening Oct. 31. Additional information on the Naismith Starting 5—there is one honoree for each position—can be found at the same link.
Along with Zakai Zeigler being a finalist for the Bob Cousy Award last year, Chaz Lanier won the Jerry West Award as the nation’s premier shooting guard. In 2023-24, Dalton Knecht claimed the Julius Erving Award as the top small forward in the country.
To keep up with the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team on social media, follow @Vol_Hoops on Instagram and X/Twitter, as well as /tennesseebasketball on Facebook.
