Devils Lake alum Grant Nelson will play a game in his home state this upcoming basketball season.
The University of North Dakota men’s basketball team recently announced that it will host the Alabama Crimson Tide on Dec. 18, 2024. It’ll be the first time these teams have ever met.
Nelson, who won Mr. Basketball for Devils Lake in 2020, was only recruited by two Division I programs coming out of high school. One of them was North Dakota State University, where he went on to play three successful seasons. The other was UND.
He had the choice to pursue the NBA draft in each of the last two years, but in both cases, he decided to stick with Alabama. He recently led the Crimson Tide to their first Final Four appearance in school history. Upon the historic run, he announced he’d be returning for one final collegiate season.
“When Grant Nelson decided to go back to Alabama, Coach [Jamie] Stevens reached out immediately to see if they had interest in bringing Grant back to his home state for a game, and to Coach [Nate] Oats’ credit, they jumped on it,” UND basketball coach Paul Sather said, per a team release. “Not often do you get a potential top-five ranked team to come to Grand Forks! It should be an awesome environment and opportunity to compete against a great team on our home court.”
Sather and the Fighting Hawks recently went 18-14, their best season in the coach’s tenure. Alabama went 25-12 overall, with Nelson averaging 11.9 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. During his final season at NDSU, he put up 17.9 points and 9.3 rebounds per game.
In addition to Nelson, Mark Sears and Latrell Wrightsell Jr. have also announced their returns to Alabama in recent weeks. In an exclusive interview with the Devils Lake Journal in May, Nelson said he thinks the team will be able to win the whole thing this time. The Crimson Tide should be a very strong force once again, after falling just short of the ultimate goal.
UND also announced it will open the 2025-26 and 2027-28 seasons in Tuscaloosa. Nelson will be gone by then, as he’s about to use up his final year of eligibility.
Friends, family and Devils Lake locals can come out to the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center on Dec. 18, just an 88-mile drive east, to see their hometown hero in action.
