Why Duke and Illinois transfer Jacob Grandison could be a perfect match -

DURHAM, N.C. — Why here?

Simple question. Tougher answer. At the very least, Jacob Grandison has to think about it. So he ducks his head. A subtle smirk escapes. Then — consciously or not — he reaches for the tips of his tightly-bound braids, rolling the fringes across his fingers. We can’t see them, but somewhere underneath Grandison’s white Nike headband, thoughts are racing, ruminating.

It’s all so … intentional. And while plenty of college basketball players are courteous, or thoughtful, or responsive, few have the depth of experiences Grandison does, or as much to consider before they speak. At 24, Grandison will be one of the oldest players in the men’s game this season, by virtue of his three college stops — first Holy Cross, then Illinois, and now Duke — and four seasons played. He went from a zero-star recruit out of high school, to one of the more sought-after transfers in the country this summer. He has started games for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, and he has come off the bench for a losing team in the Patriot League.

Now back to the original question. Why here? After a brief pause, Grandison looks up. He finally has the words.

“I’m not in a rush to do anything, and life is short,” Grandison says from behind a table in Cameron Indoor Stadium. “Opportunities come up, and you’ve gotta make decisions — and I chose to come here. I’m two feet in. Two hands in. All my fingers and toes.”

But there’s more to it than that, too. Grandison could’ve tested his luck in the NBA Draft, or overseas, but he chose college. Could’ve stayed at Illinois, or gone anywhere else via the portal, but chose Duke. And now, the program that often overlooks players like him — unheralded late bloomers with unconventional journeys — may be getting exactly what it needs at exactly the right time.

“Late bloomer.” That’s Grandison’s self-scout. Case in point: Back when the Oakland, Calif., native was in the seventh- or eighth-grade, he remembers attending a Hoop Group basketball camp in the Poconos, alongside several kids from St. Anthony Catholic School.

One small issue: Those kids were already dunking. Grandison could not.

“I’m like, Alright, so I can’t go in there,” Grandison says, laughing. “At that time, I was like, let me get out here and work on this. You gotta do something. Shooting’s kinda easy, so just shoot it — and you get good at it.”

Grandison had to develop that skill set to further his basketball career, since he was only 6-foot as a Berkeley High freshman. But after making the varsity team as a junior, Grandison hardly played — and opted not to play at all as a senior. It wasn’t until his senior spring, whilst playing for Oakland-based grassroots club Team Lillard, that Grandison decided — and had the realistic option — to do a postgrad year at Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire. One of Grandison’s teammates at Exeter committed to Holy Cross the fall he was there, meaning coach Bill Carmody would come by the school to check-in. Each time he did, he couldn’t help but notice Grandison’s production, be it his 49 percent 3-point shooting or across-the-board versatility. By season’s end, Grandison won Carmody over and earned a Crusaders scholarship offer of his own, thus beginning his ramble through the college ranks.

“We’re only a few of the guys on this team who have come from more — for lack of a better word — humble beginnings in a basketball sense,” says fellow graduate transfer Ryan Young, who came to Duke via Northwestern. “We were both guys that weren’t top-100 recruits. Guys who typically aren’t recruited by Duke out of high school. So it’s been fun to learn from him and talk to him about that, and have a bit of a similar experience, as compared to some of our super-talented freshmen who had the opposite experience.”

In two seasons at Holy Cross, Grandison averaged 11.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game, while making 34.6 percent of his 3s. When Carmody retired after Grandison’s sophomore season, Grandison transferred to Illinois. After a sit-out year, he debuted with the Illini for the 2020-21 season, when guard Ayo Dosunmu and center Kofi Cockburn had begun their breakouts and the Fighting Illini vaulted into the top-5 nationally. And that team’s first road game?

At Duke.

The Cameron Indoor that Grandison saw that day — devoid of fans because of ongoing pandemic precautions — was only a shell of itself. As Grandison jokes, “being on a different team, I’m glad there was nobody in here.” (Grandison recorded more personal fouls (two) than minutes played (one) in Illinois’ 83-68 win.)

He initially struggled to find his role at Illinois, finishing scoreless in half of the team’s first 12 games, before joining the starting lineup in mid-January. He provided valuable rebounding and floor-spacing for a team that won the Big Ten tournament and earned a No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region.

Loyola Chicago’s second-round upset of Illinois cut short Grandison’s first experience in March Madness — and taught him, the hard way, what it takes to win in the postseason.

“It’s such an ‘all this for nothing’ kind of feeling,” Grandison says. “Experience in the tournament is the feeling of losing. And that feeling hurts.”

That lesson, as much as anything Grandison can do on the floor, is why first-year head coach Jon Scheyer wanted the grad transfer so badly. Duke has seven freshmen. Returns just one rotation player from last season’s Final Four squad, point guard Jeremy Roach. Wanting experience? The Blue Devils needed it, desperately. Recent history — read as, the last six national champions since Duke’s 2015 group — says the best way to win a title these days is a mixture of freshmen studs and older veterans.

Which explains the emphasis on adding someone with 124 college games played. And if that same player shot 41 percent from 3 last season, and averaged 1.105 points per possession (PPP) in spot-up situations, per Synergy? All the better.

“His ability to stretch the floor is key, but I think his best quality is he’s a winner,” Scheyer says. “He knows how to play the game, and he knows how to make others better. He plays at a great pace. He’s not about himself. He’s not about his statistics; he’s about one thing — and that’s, did we win or not?”

Jacob Grandison played two seasons at Illinois after beginning his career at Holy Cross. ( Ron Johnson / USA Today)

The appeal on Duke’s end is obvious. On Grandison’s?

Or in other words: Why here?

Well, that all came into focus on his visit. “Before breakfast on the first day, we literally talked for an hour about all the awkward questions that needed to be asked,” he says, “and that’s kinda how it started.” From there, Scheyer explained how he wanted to play and saw Grandison fitting into a rotation that needed shooters. With the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class in tow, Duke didn’t need Grandison to be a star, but a cog in the larger machine. After meeting with Scheyer and his staff, Grandison bought into that idea.

“Basketball is very beautiful. Steve Kerr said you can’t manipulate the game of basketball, so if you try to force-feed your best player and just have role players around you, it sometimes doesn’t work out,” Grandison says. “Here, it’s moreso (about making) the best read. It’s not about what your name is or how many stars … It’s about your energy, your effort, and your skill.”

Grandison says if there was a singular moment that sold him on Duke — outside of the totality of his visit — it was at dinner with Scheyer and the staff. “Like I was sitting at a cafeteria lunch table,” Grandison jokes. Scheyer made jokes about assistants Amile Jefferson, whom he coached as a player, and Jai Lucas, whom he played against in grassroots ball, and Chris Carrawell, Duke’s associate head coach. “I was like, wow, these guys feel like friends,” Grandison adds. “I feel like I’m friends with them right now.” He was intrigued by that dynamic, and being around one of the nation’s younger coaching staffs. After dinner, he and his family returned to their hotel to discuss — except, they basically didn’t need to.

“Looked at my dad, that type of thing,” Grandison says. “Knew it.”

A left shoulder injury late last season prevented Grandison from being full-go earlier this summer, but he’s now healthy. With stud freshman Dariq Whitehead temporarily sidelined with a fractured foot, Grandison’s early-season role may be even greater than originally anticipated. Regardless, even after Whitehead returns, Grandison should compete to start and factor heavily into Scheyer’s rotation. Given his 6-foot-6 frame and size at 210 pounds, Grandison has all the versatility offensively Scheyer desires. Need rebounds? Need corner kick-out options? Need spot-up 3s, or a willing passer, or someone who can slash to the rim? Check, check, and check. Grandison can also switch defensively, making him an easy piece to fit alongside in what figures to be a constantly-shuffling lineup.

So that’s why. Grandison is here to play, obviously — but also for more. To pass along his accrued experiences, positive and negative. To experience a new coaching staff, at a transitionary period for one of the sport’s blue bloods. To make a deeper NCAA Tournament run. And also, because he can.

College only lasts so long, even if Grandison has already stretched those conventional curtails.

Why stop now?

“It’s a beautiful thing. It’s not really something you can plan,” Grandison says. “I just try to live every day and give the most I can to the sport that has gotten me here. I feel like if you get wrapped up in the headlines and the storylines of stuff, it can often bite you back. So I try to stay humble and just handle my business: on the court, off the court. Take my dog on walks. Go to class. And keep life simple.”

(Top photo: Courtesy Duke Athletics)

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