Illinois wing/forward Jacob Grandison is entering the transfer portal; ESPN's Jeff Borzello was the first to report the news. Grandison previously declared for the NBA Draft this offseason. CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein previously reported that Grandison withdrew from the NBA Draft on May 29.

Last season, Grandison started 23 of 30 games for the Illini and averaged 9.6 points and 3.8 rebounds per game with assists while making a team-high 41% of his three-point attempts. His efforts helped the Illini earn their first regular season Big Ten title since 2005.

Grandison suffered a shoulder injury in the final minutes in a win against Penn State on March 3 this past season. The injury forced Grandison to miss the Illini's Big Ten title-clinching win over No. 24 Iowa and lone Big Ten Tournament game against Indiana. In the NCAA Tournament, Grandison played a combined 13 minutes against Chattanooga and Houston. The injury required surgery this offseason.

In 2020-21, Grandison averaged 4.6 points and 3.4 rebounds while also shooting 41.5% from three on a team that won the Big Ten Tournament and earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament before eventually losing to eight-seeded Loyola Chicago in the Round of 32.

His insertion into the starting lineup on Jan. 19 at Penn State sparked the Illini who would go on to win 17 of their last 19 games. Grandison started all but one of those games, the only exception being senior night when Illinois beat Nebraska at State Farm Center.

This offseason, the Illini added two players at Grandison's position in Texas Tech transfer Terrence Shannon Jr. and Baylor transfer Matthew Mayer. The Illini also expect increased production from rising sophomores RJ Melendez and Luke Goode while also bringing in a top-10 nationally ranked recruiting class that includes Ty Rodgers as another piece on the wing along with three guards in Skyy Clark, Jayden Epps and Sencire Harris.

Grandison is the fifth Illini player to enter the transfer portal this offseason joining point guard Andre Curbelo (St. John's), guard Brandin Podzemiski (Santa Clara), forward Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk (South Carolina) and center Omar Payne (Jacksonville).

Grandison started his college career at Holy Cross and played two seasons for the Crusaders from 2017-19. He averaged 11.5 points and 4.8 rebounds while shooting 34% from three in two seasons under head coach Bill Carmody before transferring to Illinois prior to the 2019-20 season, which he sat out because of the NCAA's previous transfer rules.