JERIAN GRANT: Son’s Day
— by DEMARCO WILLIAMS, Slam magazine
Constantly having to prove yourself can either weigh you down or inspire you. Jerian Grant leans toward the latter. Being raised in a house of ballers — Jerian’s pop is 11-year NBA vet Harvey Grant; his uncle is Chicago Bulls stalwart Horace Grant; his brother Jerami plays with the Philadelphia 76ers; his other brother Jerai played professionally overseas — Jerian, 22, had to let haters know early on that he had the game to go with the last name.
“They tell me to stay humble,” he says of his family. “As quickly as fame can come, it can be taken away. Just stay humble and hungry and wanting to get better — no matter how good it’s going or how bad it’s going.”
Things went steadily during Jerian’s first two years at Notre Dame, but just as the guard was on the verge of making headlines for his play in late 2013, he became the talk of South Bend for missing the second half of his redshirt junior season for academic ineligibility. To shut up the “dumb jock” trolling, he came back focused.
By the time Grant (16.5 ppg, 6.5 apg) led the Fighting Irish to their first ever ACC Championship — the No. 3 seed in the Tourney and near-upset of Kentucky in the Elite Eight have to do with Jerian as well — many had forgiven him for past missteps.
The First-Team All-American is handling things with poise as he readies to head to the NBA. Better hope that holds up because the questions are about to come fast and furious. Can he rebound more? What’s with the headscratching shot attempts?
“I’m a playmaker on both ends,” responds the projected mid-first rounder. “I’m going to be ready Day One. It’s not going to take me three or four years down the road to really be ready to play. I feel like I’m going to be one of the guys to come in, make plays and help teams get better, if it’s me coming in and scoring 20 to 25 points or having to dish out 7 assists.”
— DEMARCO WILLIAMS, Slam magazine
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