Duke basketball staff working hard to land impact transfer

The Duke basketball coaching staff is working hard to land an impact transfer. 

Despite the movement to the Duke basketball roster in the last week, the coaching staff is still looking to add another player to the 2022-23 squad.

The Blue Devils had been linked to Texas transfer Courtney Ramey at the NBA Draft Withdrawal deadline but talk between the two sides has reportedly halted and Duke has turned its attention to another transfer, Illinois’ Jacob Grandison.

Grandison will be arriving in Durham on Thursday for his official visit to Duke, On3Sports reported on Wednesday.

The 6-foot-6 guard began his career at Holy Cross before leaving for Illinois after his sophomore season and his 3-point shooting would fit perfectly with the current Duke roster.

Jacob Grandison shot 41.5-percent from beyond the arc in his first season with the Illini and connected on a 41.0-percent clip in his second season in Champaign as he averaged 9.6 points per game for the Big Ten Tournament Champions.

ALSO READ: Duke commit has strong debut for Team USA

The Oakland, California native did not play in Illinois’ win over Duke inside Cameron Indoor Stadium in the 2020-21 season.

Grandison originally declared for the NBA Draft but withdrew last week to return to college for his final year of eligibility and announced a Top-10 finalists of USC, BYU, UCLA, DePaul, Arizona, Iowa State, Michigan, Kentucky, Oregon, and Duke.

Duke basketball looking for sharpshooting guard in backcourt

The hope for the Blue Devils was that Trevor Keels would withdraw from the NBA Draft and return to school to solidify the Duke backcourt with another veteran presence that could stretch the defense.

ALSO READ: Former Duke player and coach steps down from position

Keels remained in the draft and Jon Scheyer quickly turned his attention to bolstering the backcourt with the reclassification of five-star guard Tyrese Proctor, who was committed to Duke in the Class of 2023.

The Blue Devils also have junior point guard Jeremy Roach and four-star shooting guard Jaden Schutt to lead its charge in the backcourt as Duke holds the top ranked incoming recruiting class led by Dereck Lively, Kyle Filipowski, and Dariq Whitehead.