Report: Illinois Transfer Jacob Grandison Considering UCLA Men’s Basketball

With one veteran wing out the door, the Bruins are apparently out there for a substitute.

UCLA males’s basketball is likely one of the potential touchdown spots for Illinois switch guard Jacob Grandison, the wing advised CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein on Friday. Grandison can be contemplating USC, BYU, DePaul, Arizona, Iowa State, Michigan, Kentucky, Oregon and Duke. Grandison is initially from Oakland, however went to highschool 3,000 miles away at Phillips Exeter (NH).

Grandison is a graduate switch heading into his sixth 12 months on the faculty stage, as he began his profession at Holy Cross. After two years averaging 11.5 factors, 4.8 rebounds and a couple of.5 assists per sport in Worcester, Massachusetts, Grandison transferred to Champaign, Illinois, and redshirted his first 12 months with the Preventing Illini.

Settling in as a part-time starter for Illinois in 2020-2021, Grandison averaged 4.6 factors, 3.4 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 15.3 minutes per sport for a staff that gained the Huge Ten Event and earned a No. 1 seed within the NCAA Event. Grandison rose even additional by way of the rotation this previous season, averaging 9.6 factors, 3.8 rebounds and a couple of.3 assists in 25.0 minutes per sport because the Preventing Illini gained the Huge Ten common season title.

Maybe Grandison’s defining trait the previous few years has been his perimeter taking pictures, hitting 41.1% of his 3-pointers since becoming a member of Illinois whereas taking 4.5 pictures per sport from past the arc this previous season.

Grandison had beforehand declared for the 2022 NBA Draft, however he withdrew his title on Might 29 and entered the NCAA switch portal two days later.

The Bruins equally had a participant take their professional determination right down to the wire earlier within the week, however as an alternative of dropping him to the portal, they misplaced theirs to the draft pool. Guard Jules Bernard reaffirmed his dedication to turning professional this summer time in an Instagram put up Wednesday evening, leaving UCLA with out certainly one of its projected veteran starters subsequent season.

Bernard would have been taking part in his fifth season in Westwood had he returned.

Like Bernard, Grandison is available in at 6-foot-6 and 205 kilos. Bernard could have performed extra video games with 130, however Grandison is not far behind with 124 appearances.

Coach Mick Cronin and his workers have additionally been involved with Kentucky switch wing Keion Brooks, in response to a report from Rothstein again in Might. The Bruins have three open scholarships spots with Bernard out of the image, and it seems they’re prioritizing lengthy wings to fill these holes.

Bernard, Johnny Juzang and Peyton Watson supplied a variety of that size final season, however all three are headed to the NBA Draft. Jake Kyman transferred to Wyoming as properly, so between him, Bernard and Juzang, the Bruins have additionally misplaced three of their highest-volume 3-point shooters.

Grandison would carry the identical size and 3-point makes an attempt that Bernard did, and at the next effectivity than the previous Bruin’s 33.7% clip from deep final season. Grandison had a 17.5 PER in his two years at Illinois, very a lot in-line with Bernard’s 17.8 determine in that very same span.

Between the 2, Grandison has higher rebounding and help percentages, extra win shares per 40 minutes and higher offensive and defensive field plus/minuses, though Bernard did put up the decrease turnover share.

Though UCLA has the room so as to add as many as three gamers by way of the switch portal within the coming weeks, it’s unlikely they replenish their complete roster.

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