Cookeville Cavaliers senior guard Allie Gillies has spent her entire life surrounded by the game she now stars in. As the Cavaliers roll into the season at 4-0, she is stepping into her final year with confidence, purpose and a deep appreciation for where she comes from.
“We have such a great community,” Gillies said. “You look around when we’re playing and you see people from businesses coming, people from schools coming, our teachers, there’s so many kids here.”
For Gillies, basketball is not just a sport. It is a family lineage. Before she ever took her first breath, she was courtside. Her mom, Jamie Gillies, coached while Allie was still in the womb. As a baby, she was already gripping basketballs, and by age four she was playing in her first organized game. The rhythm of the gym is all Allie has ever known.
“I’ve always been around it,” Gillies said. “I’ve always loved the sport. I’ve always been in a gym, I love being in a gym, I always love the sport.”
That passion has translated into production. Gillies is coming off a junior season where she averaged 13 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal, ranking among the top three-point shooters in Class 4A and helping lead Cookeville to a 25-8 record and a trip to the state tournament in Murfreesboro. She also surpassed the one thousand point milestone this season, becoming one of the few Cavaliers players to do so.
Now, as a senior, Gillies said she is playing with both urgency and freedom, and with her college future already secured.
Earlier this month, Gillies announced her commitment to Trevecca Nazarene University, where she’ll join her older sister, Jordan, for one season. Gillies said it was the fit she had always hoped for.
“I started thinking about it more once I hit high school,” Gillies said. “I got an offer this summer, and Trevecca was the winner.”
For a player who grew up in the gym, learned the game from family and now thrives in front of a supportive community, the next chapter for Gillies is a natural continuation of a life in basketball. But Gillies said her focus remains on Cookeville’s hot start, and leading the Cavaliers on another deep postseason run.