Grandison began his high school career playing for Berkeley High School. Grandison started his sophomore year on junior varsity, but he was elevated to the varsity team.[1]
During the last two years Grandison was in Berkeley High School, he played basketball with private coaching, due to unethical environment and coaching methods in his school. Later Grandison has told in media about the situation, that it was not safe for him to play under the coach of Berkeley. When his father noted the school about those circumstances, he was threatened not to make it an issue, or else Grandison's life and health will be in danger. Since then, Grandison was escorted on his way to school, and his social life was forced to be limited.[2][3]
He committed himself to continue to train with Chris Garlington at Overtime Sports Academy (CA). In May 2016, Grandison's senior year of high school, he was seen, by Team Lillard's head coach, Raymond Young, playing basketball on a non-sponsored AAU team. Coach Raym Young invited Grandison to play basketball on its Adidas sponsored AAU team supported by Oakland's very-own Damian Lillard. This experience permitted, for the first time, Division I coaches to see Grandison compete from May to July 2016, following his graduation from his public high school. During spring 2016, Grandison decided to attended a post-graduate high school year at Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire for the 2016–17 season. Grandison was named Third-team Class A All-New England Honors and led the Exonians to a NEPSAC Class A championship, where he scored 20 points in the final, championship game and was named MVP of the tournament. His success at Phillips Exeter led to Grandison being offered a Division-I scholarship to play for Holy Cross, where he ended up committing.[4][5][6][7]
College career
Grandison began his college career at Holy Cross, where he played in all 31 games and started 18 games his freshman year. During his first year, he averaged nine points a game and led his team in scoring six times and rebounding nine times.[8] As a sophomore, Grandison started in all 33 games. He led the team in scoring with an average of 13.9 points per game, which was 11th in the Patriot League, and was second on the team in recounting with five rebounds per game. Along with this, Grandison shot 36.5 percent from three with a team high of 69 three-pointers, which was eighth in the Patriot league. Some individual highlights for the season included scoring a double-double of 21 points and a career-high 10 assists against Stony Brook on November 16, 2018, a career-high of 25 points against Iona on December 30, 2018, and a double-double of 22 points and a career-high 16 rebounds against Lafayette on March 5, 2019.[6] After two years at Holy Cross, Grandison transferred to Illinois.[9]
After sitting out the 2019–20 season because of NCAA transfer rules, Grandison started his Illinois career as a bench player. However, after Illinois suffered consecutive losses to Maryland and Ohio State, Coach Brad Underwood decided to shake up his lineup and put Grandison in the starting lineup for their game against Penn State on January 19, 2021. This proved to be a successful change as Illinois beat the Nittany Lions 79–65, and Grandison started 15 of the final 16 games of the season.[10][6] With Grandison in the lineup, Illinois moved from 22 to 2 in the AP poll[11] and won the 2021 Big Ten men's basketball tournament.[12] For the entire season, Grandison averaged 4.6 points and 3.4 rebounds a game. For his senior season, Grandison saw a more increased role as he started in 23 of the 30 games he played. On February 19, 2022, Grandison had his most points as an Illini with 24 points and tied a career-high in three pointers made in a game with six as he helped lead his team to a win against Michigan State 79–74.[13][6] However, on March 3, 2022, Grandison sustained a shoulder injury against Penn State, which caused him to miss the last game of the regular season and the Big Ten tournament and limited his playing time in the NCAA tournament.[14] Despite this, he averaged 9.6 points and 3.8 rebounds per game, which was fourth on the team for both, and earned an Academic All-Big Ten selection.[6][15]
After graduating from Illinois, Grandison decided to use his final year of eligibility and transferred to Duke. While attending Duke, Jacob was selected to the All-ACC Academic Team.
Professional career
On 16 August 2023, KK Cibona in Croatian League and ABA League announced the signing of Grandison, but the deal was eventually collapsed due to the club's financial problems.[16]
On 27 October 2023, it was announced that Grandison had signed his first professional contract with Spanish club Menorca on a three-month deal.[17][18]
On 27 February 2024, Grandison moved to Finland and signed with Salon Vilpas in Korisliiga for the rest of the 2023–24 season.[19]
Grandison was born to a Swedish-speaking Finnish mother and an American father, and has a dual Finnish-American citizenship by birth. Grandison's Finnish citizenship permitted him to represent the Finland men's national basketball team in its summer training camp and their Olympic preparatory national team matches in 2021.[4][21]
Grandison was also part of the Finland squad in World Cup preparatory games in Summer 2023. He was named in the Finland final squad in the 2023 FIBA World Cup tournament. Grandison also played in the 2024 FIBA Olympic qualifying tournament.[22]
Personal life
Grandison was born in San Francisco, California and grew up in Oakland, California. His mother, Carina, is from Haaga, Helsinki, Finland, and she had met Grandison's father, James, in California when she was an exchange student in the U.S.[23] He competitively swam growing up for the Oakland Undercurrents and competed in the 50 freestyle at the Junior Olympics. He graduated from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign with his bachelor's (B.S.) degree in earth, society, and environmental sustainability in 2021, and graduated with his master's (M.S.) degree from the University of Illinois GIES School of Business in business management in May 2022.[6]
Although being born and raised in the United States, Grandison visited Finland with his family during summers when he was younger. He does not speak Finnish, but understands and speaks some Swedish, which his mother spoke to him when he was a child.[24][2]
Grandison's maternal grandfather was Nils Mustelin, a Finnish professor of physics and an astronomer, and a former member of the Helsinki city council.[2]
Brian Joshua Cook is an American former professional basketball player. He was drafted out of the University of Illinois with the 24th overall pick in the 2003 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Lakers.
John Graham Kerr, also known as Red Kerr, was an American basketball player, coach, executive and broadcaster who devoted six decades to the sport at all levels. The affable 6'9", 230-pound center starred for the University of Illinois (1951–1954) before he became a three-time All-Star and one-time league champion in the NBA (1954–66), primarily as a member of the Syracuse Nationals.
Luther Dale Head is a former American professional basketball player.
James Augustine is a retired American professional basketball player who played as a forward. During the career he played college basketball for the Illinois Fighting Illini before being drafted 41st overall in the 2006 NBA draft by the Orlando Magic. Later he relocated in Europe and concluded his playing career for Malaga. Augustine has played over 400 official games in different clubs.
Bruce Douglas is a retired American professional basketball player. A 6'3" guard, he played varsity basketball for Quincy Senior High School four years, and was a four-year starter at the University of Illinois. He also briefly played professionally with the Sacramento Kings and in the CBA.
Roger Powell Jr. is an American former professional basketball player and current head coach of the Valparaiso Beacons men's basketball team. Powell was previously an assistant at Gonzaga. He played collegiately at the University of Illinois from 2001 to 2005, after having attended Joliet Central High School, with a 2001 graduation. Powell played the forward position for his high school and in college. He graduated from the University of Illinois with a degree in speech communications. Powell's father was a former Joliet Central High School and Illinois State player.
Stephen Phil Kuberski is an American former professional basketball player. Kuberski won two NBA titles with the Boston Celtics, in 1974 and 1976 and had a nine-year National Basketball Association (NBA) career. Kuberski was the last Celtic to wear number 33 before Larry Bird.
The Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team is an NCAA Division I college basketball team competing in the Big Ten Conference, that represent the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Home games are played at the State Farm Center, located on the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's campus in Champaign. Illinois has one pre-tournament national championship and one non-NCAA tournament national championship in 1915 and 1943, awarded by the Premo-Porretta Power Poll. Illinois has appeared in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament 34 times, and has competed in 5 Final Fours, 10 Elite Eights, and has won 18 Big Ten regular season championships, and 4 Big Ten Tournament Championships.
Duane W. "Skip" Thoren is an American former professional basketball player. At a height of 6 ft 10 in tall, he played at the center position.
Jenna Smith is an American former professional basketball center. She was drafted in the second round of the 2010 WNBA draft by the Washington Mystics, having previously played college basketball for the University of Illinois Fighting Illini where she earned First team All-Big Ten honors in 2008, 2009 and 2010. In 2016, she was named assistant coach of the Indiana State Sycamores women's basketball team.
Lowell Hamilton is an American former basketball player.
Michael Price is an American former professional basketball player. He played for three seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers. Price played college basketball for the Illinois Fighting Illini and was selected in the first round of the 1970 NBA draft by the New York Knicks. He is the older brother of fellow NBA player Jim Price.
Govoner Vaughn was a former high school, college and professional basketball player during the 1950s & 60s. Vaughn led Edwardsville High School to a fourth-place finish in the I.H.S.A. 1954 high school playoffs, as well as a second-place finish in 1956 to defending champion, Rockford West. Vaughn played in eight career state playoff games over two seasons, and his 92 points were all scored during the 1956 tournament. He, along with his teammate, Mannie Jackson, were named first-team all-tournament.
Trent Frazier is an American professional basketball player for Zenit and the VTB United League. He played college basketball for Illinois.
Quamdeen Ayopo Dosunmu is an American professional basketball player for the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball at Illinois, where he was named a consensus first-team All-American in his junior season.
Kofi Mazeze Cockburn is a Jamaican professional basketball player for the Seoul Samsung Thunders of the Korean Basketball League (KBL). He previously played for the Niigata Albirex of the Japanese B. League. He played college basketball for the Illinois Fighting Illini.
Efrem Zimbalist Winters is an American former collegiate basketball player. At a height of 6'9" tall, he played at the power forward position.
Lucas Williamson is an American professional basketball player for the Memphis Hustle of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the Loyola Ramblers.
Da'Monte Williams is an American former professional basketball player. Williams previously played professionally for U.D. Oliveirense. Williams played college basketball for the Illinois Fighting Illini of the Big Ten Conference.
The 2022–23 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Led by sixth-year head coach Brad Underwood, the Illini played their home games at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois as members of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 20–11, 11–9 in Big Ten play to finish in a four-way tie in fifth place. As the No. 7 seed in the Big Ten tournament, they were defeated by Penn State in the second round. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 9 seed in the West Region, where they lost to Arkansas in the First Round.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
Redshirt
