Over the past year, Grant Smith has been one of the fastest rising recruits in Illinois’ 2028 class. This has led to a huge boost in the recruitment of the 6’6” wing of Lyons Township and Meanstreets. With this, he has seen a few division one offers and more recently he has taken several visits. 

Smith saw his first offer come in June from Toledo. Then over the next few weeks during the summer, he added a few more division one offers. These ones came from Green Bay, Ohio, and UIC. More than just a basketball standout, Smith also excels on the football field where he has earned multiple division one offers as well. 

Continuing on this growth with his offers, Smith has taken several visits in recent weeks. Most recently this past weekend, he took a visit to Northwestern. “Very fun,” he said about the visit. “I was able to see all of the facilities and arena. Had a great conversation with Coach Collins. Then I toured a little bit of campus and went to the football game.”

In addition to Northwestern, Smith has also taken visits to High Point, Ohio, and UIC recently. “High Point I was able to see campus which is really nice. It's like a country club and then meet all the coaches and take photos and compete at camp.” 

Regarding his visit to Ohio, Smith said “I loved getting to watch practice, meet the coaching staff, tour the facilities and campus. It was great to get a feel for everything. My dad and grandpa are alums, both played football there.” For his other visit, he said “UIC has a great staff and it was lots of fun getting to watch practice, meet with coaches and see the everyday grind.”

Next up for Smith, he has a couple of visits planned in the upcoming weeks. This includes Illinois on October third followed by Yale on October ninth. In addition to all of these schools who have offered him and his visits, Smith is also being recruited by Ball State, Belmont, Furman, Miami (OH), Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico State, and Northern Iowa.