Collin Gillespie

Gillespie is the son of a police officer. He attended Archbishop Wood High School, where he was coached by John Mosco. Gillespie had no Division I scholarship offers coming into his senior year, but received offers from Rider, Hofstra and Villanova after strong play in a tournament.[1] He scored 42 points in a regular-season win over Neumann Goretti featuring Kentucky recruit Quade Green.[2] As a senior, he led the team to a PIAA Class 5A state title.[3] Gillespie averaged 24.1 points per game as a senior and was named Philadelphia Player of the Year by the Philadelphia Daily News as well as Catholic League Most Valuable Player. He signed a letter of intent with Villanova on April 14, 2017, joining Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree and Jermaine Samuels in the class of 2021.[4]

Eric Paschall, Donte DiVincenzo, Omari Spellman, Collin Gillespie, and Jalen Brunson.

Gillespie wanted to redshirt his freshman year at Villanova but coach Jay Wright decided against doing it because Gillespie "was playing above his years."[3] He was able to break into the rotation, scoring in double figures in his second game, but had to adjust to the quickness of the college game. Gillespie had to miss more than a month in December and January due to a fractured bone in his left hand sustained in a December 8 practice. However, he returned to action in a January 17 road win over Georgetown.[3] He provided quality minutes and had eight points including two three-pointers in a February 1 win over Creighton due to the absence of Phil Booth with a similar hand injury.[1] Gillespie made his first start on February 10, in an 86–75 win over Butler. In the first round of the NCAA Tournament, Gillespie scored nine points and had a steal in a win versus Radford. He had four points and five rebounds in the 79–62 NCAA championship game win over Michigan. He averaged 4.3 points per game in 14.4 minutes per game.[5] Gillespie posted a 2.6-to-1 assist to turnover ratio, which Wright attributed to him thinking about his teammates and trying to make them better.[3]

Gillespie scored a career-high 30 points in a 77–65 win against Georgetown on February 3, 2019.[6] On March 9, he had 22 points in a 79–75 loss to Seton Hall.[7] As a sophomore, Gillespie averaged 10.9 points per game.[8]

Coming into his junior season, Gillespie broke his nose in practice, forcing him to wear a mask for several games.[9] Gillespie had 27 points and six assists in an 87–78 loss to Baylor in the championship game of the Myrtle Beach Classic. He was named to the All-Tournament Team and Big East player of the week on November 25.[10] On January 28, 2020, Gillespie had his first double-double with 17 points and a career-high 13 rebounds in a 79–59 win over St. John's.[11] Gillespie scored a season-high 29 points on February 16, in a 76–56 win over Temple.[12] At the conclusion of the regular season, Gillespie was selected to the Second Team All-Big East.[13] He averaged 15.1 points, 4.5 assists, and 1.2 steals per game on a team that finished 24–7.[14]

In the summer of 2019, Gillespie was a part of the United States National team who competed at the Pan American Games in Peru. The team won bronze, defeating Dominican Republic behind 25 points from Gillespie.[15]

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