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Ja’Kobi Gillespie didn’t know he was destined to be part of history when he decided to finish his college career with Tennessee basketball.
The transfer guard from Maryland just wanted to play in front of his loved ones when he committed to the Vols in April 2025.

A year later, Gillespie became the fourth player from the Knoxville area to be selected in the NBA draft, following Elston Turner (Austin-East), Paul Hogue (Austin) and Doug Roth (Karns). The San Antonio Spurs picked the former Greeneville High School star with the No. 42 pick in the second round on June 24.

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Tennessee guard Dalton Knecht (3) celebrates a three point shot during a NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 game between Tennessee and Creighton held at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Friday, March 29, 2024.
(Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel)

“It was a great feeling,” Gillespie said, in a video from Tennessee Athletics, about hearing his name called . “I obviously knew beforehand, but to hear it and to hear the reactions from all my family and friends, because that’s who I do it for anyway, to be able to give back to them and to Greeneville, it’s a great feeling.”
Gillespie led the Greene Devils to their first pair of TSSAA state championships in 2021 and 2022, and he was named Mr. Basketball for Class 3A. He began college at Belmont for two seasons and transferred to Maryland for a year before ending at Tennessee.
“I heard people there talking about, ‘He’s certainly the pride of Greeneville,’ ” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said about Gillespie on June 25. “They said he’s opened the door for a lot of young people there to dream about it.

“I wish we could’ve had him much longer, but he’s with a great organization.”

Tennessee basketball guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie celebrates after being selected by the San Antonio Spurs with the 42nd pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.
Barnes had an eventful week, celebrating with Gillespie at Cook Loft in downtown Knoxville the day after hugging star forward Nate Ament at the draft in Brooklyn. Ament went to the Milwaukee Bucks with the No. 13 pick in the first round.
Gillespie had a pre-draft workout with the Spurs, who just reached the NBA Finals and lost in a five-game series to the New York Knicks.
“I’m not coming there to try to prove anything,” Gillespie said. “I’m just going to be me and play as hard as I can.”
Gillespie wasn’t the only Tennessee player celebrating in the second round.

Shortly after the All-SEC guard went to the Spurs, center Felix Okpara heard his name called with the 46th pick at his draft party in Nashville.
Unlike Gillespie, Okpara didn’t receive a call before the pick.
“I didn’t see it coming, it kind of caught me off guard,” he said. “I can’t explain the feeling, but it was one of the best feelings in the world.”

Tennessee basketball forward Felix Okpara receives a call during draft party. He was the 46th pick in the 2026 NBA Draft for the Washington Wizards.
The 6-10 rim protector was drafted by the Orlando Magic, but his rights were traded to the Washington Wizards. Okpara said he met some of the Wizards brass in the pre-draft process and will join forces with the No. 1 overall pick, BYU’s AJ Dybansta.

Okpara was drafted around 10:15 p.m. He soon got a call from his parents in Nigeria.
“My parents in Nigeria called very excited,” he said. “It was 3 a.m. over there and they were still up. I’m excited they could also share that moment with me. They haven’t seen me in a while. They know what I came here to do actually came through and happened.”
Okpara celebrated in Knoxville with his host family. He came to the United States from Lagos, Nigeria in pursuit of basketball and landed in nearby Chattanooga.
“All that matters to me is being around my family,” he said. “What I’ve sacrificed, what they’ve sacrificed for me and being able to share that moment with me, knowing I’ve achieved the next step in my dream, it’s exciting.”

Wynton Jackson covers high school sports for Knox News. Email: wynton.jackson@knoxnews.com
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: How Ja’Kobi Gillespie, Felix Okpara reacted as NBA draft picks from Tennessee
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