NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – Former Tennessee high school Mr. Basketball winner, Ja’Kobi Gillespie is headed to the NBA. The Greenville native and former Tennessee Vol was selected with the 42nd pick in the draft by the San Antonio Spurs.
Minutes later, Gillespie’s Tennessee teammate, Felix Okpara, got the call at pick number 46 by the Orlando Magic. That pick was then traded to the Washington Wizards.
And then the NBA champion New York Knicks used the 47th selection to take Vanderbilt guard Tyler Nickel.
Nickel became the 43rd Vanderbilt men’s basketball player to hear his name called in the NBA Draft, going to New York Knicks with the 47th overall pick in the second round of the 2026 draft in Brooklyn.
Nickel is the first Commodore to be drafted since 2020 when Aaron Nesmith and Saben Lee were selected in the first and second round, respectively.
“I am so happy for Tyler,” Vanderbilt head coach Mark Byington said. “He has earned this opportunity and I am confident this is just a start. I really feel that he can be impactful in the NBA, and I know the Knicks are getting an unbelievable person, unbelievable competitor and somebody who really wants to win.”
In two seasons with the Dores, Nickel etched his name alongside the best shooters in program history with a .402 three-point shooting percentage. His 110 threes in 2025-26 marked the third most in a single season at Vanderbilt, trailing only Shan Foster and John Jenkins who co-hold the record with 134 made triples.
Meanwhile, Okpara is the 60th player selected out of Tennessee and is the first of that group chosen by the Orlando Magic. The Washington Wizards, meanwhile, took Doug Roth at No. 41 in 1989.
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The 6-foot-11, 243-pounder finished second at Tennessee in blocks average, fourth in offensive rebounding average (2.51). The fourth Volunteer with two 50-block seasons, he finished with the most blocks (116) and offensive rebounds (183) by a two-year player in program history.
Gillespie averaged 18.4 points, 5.4 assists and 2.1 steals per game, leading the team in each of those categories, while adding 2.8 rebounds per outing. He shot 81.0 percent at the free-throw line, too.The 6-foot-1, 188-pounder racked up 79 steals to break the program’s single-season record that stood for 32 years. Gillespie logged eight takeaways in a game on two occasions, to set and then tie the school’s single-game record. He also had six steals in the Elite Eight matchup with Michigan to set a Tennessee best in NCAA Tournament play.
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