🏀 A Homecoming for Grant Nelson

A lot of college programs try to take care of their elder players by getting them a game close to home for family and friends to attend, but in the case of Grant Nelson, it’s a little more complicated.

Every year, college basketball teams all across the country try to schedule non-conference games for their senior players to ensure they get a chance to play in front of family and friends one last time in college. In the case of Grant Nelson, the Alabama senior, his home game created an interesting trip for (6) Alabama.

Last night, Nelson and his Alabama squad headed to North Dakota, to take on the University of ND. Nelson is a native of Devils Lake, North Dakota, about an hour and a half east of the campus. This was perhaps one of the most interesting away games for a top-10 team in recent memory.

It is most likely the highest ranked opponent to ever visit North Dakota, as the team competes in the Summit League against schools like University of Nebraska Omaha, University of Denver, University of Missouri-Kansas City, among others.

Nelson spent his first two years at the OTHER major school in the state, North Dakota State University. He was one of the best players in the transfer portal after a 2023-23 season where he averages 18 points per game and 9 rebounds. He’s been a key piece to the Alabama roster the last two seasons, averaging 12 points and 8 rebounds this year.

Grant has nine siblings, all of which have their own families, and apparently just about his whole town was trying to get into to the game. North Dakota gave him a bunch of tickets to disperse, but the supply did certainly not met the demand.

From a off-the-court prospective, this must have been really different for a lot of the program’s members. Alabama is a MASSIVE brand, used to playing in huge stadiums, in front of large crowds, in big cities and college towns, and I’m sure they have top shelf transportation and lodging just about everywhere they go. I don’t know much about Grand Forks, North Dakota, but I have a feeling it’s not quite what they are used to. With a population of 58,821, Grand Forks is about half the size of Tuscaloosa, and U of Alabama is about 2.5 times larger than UND.

I’m sure for many of Grant’s teammates, it was a new experience for them, as it would be for a lot of us. I love the idea of a team like Alabama, the number 6 team in the country, traveling to Grand Folks, ND, it really spices up a random non-conference game in December. It not only is great for Grant Nelson and his family and friends, but it brings one of the best brands in basketball to a place that doesn’t really get a lot of basketball attention. It spreads the game, makes it a larger brand, and perhaps even the next Grant Nelson will be in attendance.

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