Atlanta Hawks Draft Preview: Collin Gillespie

The Hawks scouted Gillespie on May 11.

With the 2022 NBA Draft quickly approaching, we continue our series of scouting reports. Today the focus remains on possible second round selections with former Villanova Wildcat Collin Gillespie.

Vitals

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Collin Gillespie

Position: Point Guard

Height: 6’3”

Weight: 195

Age: 22

Class: Senior

School: Villanova

Why Gillespie

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Right off the bat, some of you might be thinking, “why a point guard and why Gillespie?” Well, let’s start with the first part. For starters, should the Hawks choose to go after a forward with their first-round pick, they might as well allocate their second towards a guard. Although Trae Young has his starting role on lock, it doesn’t hurt to have a viable backup to come off the bench for him, and should he run into any injury snags, the Hawks would at least have a good fallback plan.

In addition, Gillespie is a strong enough guard to play at the two as well, bringing elite 3PT shooting, whether it’s off catch-and-shoot opportunities or off the dribble. Over the five seasons he played at Villanova, Gillespie has really refined his offensive game and groomed himself into a dangerous scoring threat under former Head Coach Jay Wright.

From his experience, awareness, scoring touch, and athleticism, Gillespie brings a lot of great skills that could thrive within the Hawks system. And if Villanova prospects have illustrated anything in recent years (e.g., Jalen Brunson, Dante DiVincenzo, Josh Hart), it’s that they can hold their own in the NBA and have the ability to make a difference for whichever team they land on.

Offense

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Over his five-year tenure at Villanova, Gillespie put together one incredible portfolio of achievements both on the team and individual levels. In 156 games played at Villanova, Gillespie scored a total of 1,858 points, gathered 482 assists, 449 rebounds, and 154 steals, paving his way as one of the most distinguished players in the program’s history.

But with his productivity came consistency and invaluable experience developed under one of the greatest college basketball coaches we’ve seen. In his freshman season in 2018, Gillespie won a National Title (Villanova’s second in three years), accumulating a firm feel and understanding of what it takes to succeed and persevere in the greatest college basketball tournament.

After being primarily a bench player over the course of his freshman year, Gillespie really started to come into his own once he became a full-time starter in his sophomore season, where he averaged 10.9 points, 2.8 assists, and 2.4 rebounds. The following year, Gillespie would make another big leap, posting 15.1 points per game to go with 4.5 assists, 3.7 rebounds, and 1.2 steals, leading him to be named to the All-Big East Second Team at the conclusion of the season.

The very next year, Gillespie would be named to the All-Big East First Team and was also crowned the Big East Player of the Year as a senior. However, Gillespie would miss a chance to play in the Big East Tournament and in the big dance due to an MCL tear he suffered in early March that season.

Despite having a chance to enter the draft, Gillespie chose to opt for a fifth season of eligibility, and my goodness, would he stamp his legacy into Villanova’s history books with one special season. Scoring 15.6 points on average to go with a 41.5 shooting percentage from behind the arc (both career highs), Gillespie also tallied a career-high 3.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists as well. He would not only be named First Team All-Big East for a second time and receive the Big East Player of the Year Award once again. But Gillespie would also be selected to the All-American Third Team and won the Bob Cousy Award as well, an honor given to the best men’s collegiate point guard of the season.

Defense

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Because of his size, lack of physicality, and small 6’3” wingspan, Gillespie isn’t a great defender by any means and is, at best, a fringe two-way guard. His ability to stay in front of his opponents and prevent them from blowing by him on the wing is super inconsistent and, at times, a bit clumsy and slow.

That said, Gillespie still can play solid defense and has improved on that front gradually every year. Along with his ability to be disruptive with his active hands as well as make key reads with his alert anticipation, Gillespie also brings toughness and a strong feel for positioning himself to make the best defensive plays he can muster. During his five years at Villanova, Gillespie averaged a steal per game and 1.4 per 40 minutes.

Upside

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Although Gillespie will be turning 23 two days after the NBA Draft, he brings a level of maturity and an anchoring foundation with his talent that can allow him to really take off in the NBA. During his five years at Villanova, Gillespie allowed himself to grow, refine, and build upon his set of strengths and has put himself in the best position to succeed in the league.

What’s also quite special about Gillespie’s upside is founded on how much playing time he received, and particularly per game. In his last three seasons alone, Gillespie logged in 33 minutes or more on average, granting himself the opportunity to really work on his pace and improve his durability over the course of a full game.

In short, this has really positioned Gillespie to make a smooth transition when he enters the NBA, making for a very valuable plug-and-play scorer that can be a force in a matter of years.

Downside

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Gillespie comes with two key downsides that the Hawks might want to consider prior to selecting him. The first is his streaky level of shooting efficiency from the field and his inability to improve that over his five years at Villanova. Despite shooting 45.2% from the field in 14.4 minutes of play during his freshman year, Gillespie didn’t come close to replicating that during the remaining four years of his college career until his final season when he shot 43.4% from the field, but even then, that wasn’t really close.

The second key concern about Gillespie is his lack of playmaking, despite being a point guard. He just isn’t that dynamic with the ball in his hands and operates with a methodical, calculated style that leads him to play at a very slow pace.

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