Prospect Spotlight – Grant Olsen (2024 Hermiston)
Up through now, Grant Olsen Grant Olsen 6'5" | SF Hermiston | 2024 State OR has largely been operating off the radar in Oregon high school circles. You can’t fault the lanky 6-foot-5 swingman at all – Hermiston competes in…
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Continue ReadingUp through now, Grant Olsen Grant Olsen 6'5" | SF Hermiston | 2024 State OR has largely been operating off the radar in Oregon high school circles. You can’t fault the lanky 6-foot-5 swingman at all – Hermiston competes in Washington in the WIAA as opposed to Oregon’s OSAA. That hasn’t stopped the rising senior from getting buckets – Olsen’s already racked up over 1000 career points – and this summer he’s been doing more of the same with the Oregon Prospects.
“I love to get downhill, attack the rim, and I like to block shots,” Olsen said. “I can step outside, shoot a three, and I’m patient. I score most of my points inside, but I can shoot too.”
We’ve seen Olsen play a number of times this spring and summer with the Prospects and have been impressed with not only his craftiness around the hoop, where he effectively uses his length and feel, but also his ability to run the floor and finish at the rim. While scoring is his forte, he has recognized the need to play on the other end of the floor and has spent this off-season working on improving in that area.
“I feel like my strength has gotten better and my defense for sure,” Olsen said. “That was one thing going into season I knew that I needed to work on, especially from spring to summer.”
Playing with the Prospects gave Olsen the opportunity to play in front of college coaches, particularly in the Pacific Northwest mainly at the D-II, D-III, and NAIA levels. As a result, he’s picked up a roster spot offer from Pacific and other schools like George Fox, Puget Sound, and Seattle Pacific among others have been in contact. In general, it seems to fit what he’s looking for in a school and program.
“I’m hoping for probably somewhere on the western side of the states or somewhere warm – I’d like to be somewhere warm,” Olsen said. “For the most part I’m keeping it open.”
With AAU season now complete, Olsen turns his attention to his senior campaign where he feels he and his Hermiston can do some damage.
“I think we’re going to be pretty good this year,” Olsen said. “We brought back almost our entire team, and we’ve just been building basically since freshman year. We kind of had the same team, just kind of keep on building and this year, we got a new coach – I want to make it to Tacoma. I’m hoping to get the Hermiston scoring record, I think I need like 400 points. I want to get that.”
Olsen currently ranks as the #60 player in the PrepHoops Oregon Class of 2024 rankings.