Alabama to host North Dakota State transfer Grant Nelson on official visit

According to Bama Online‘s Tim Watts, Alabama will host North Dakota State transfer Grant Nelson on an official visit beginning on Thursday. One of the best players in the NCAA transfer portal at the moment, head coach Nate Oats is making him a “top priority.”

“Saw the Grant Nelson discussion, so I reached out to some sources, who tell me he’s not on campus but is expected to be in Tuscaloosa on Thursday for his official visit,” Watts said via the Bama Online board. “Nelson, the 6-11, 235-pound big man transfer from North Dakota State, is about to hit an official visit run that includes Bama, Baylor and Arkansas (and possibly more) before making his final decision.”

Nelson placed his name in the 2023 NBA Draft but decided to withdraw and enter the portal. An All-Summit player last season, Nelson averaged 17.9 points and 9.3 points per game. There’s a reason college basketball’s best are chasing after him.

CLICK HERE to get SIX months of premium access to BOL for just $1, or you can also get monthly access with your first month being 50% off!

The On3 transfer portal rankings think highly of Nelson, having him as the No. 6 overall player to enter this cycle. He is comfortably the best player available as well, with top programs swarming to add Nelson to their 2022-2023 roster.

Alabama currently has a roster loaded with guards but is lacking true depth in the frontcourt. Nelson would certainly be more than a depth piece and instantly become one of the Crimson Tide’s top players.

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire.

Transfer portal background information

The NCAA Transfer Portal, which covers every NCAA sport at the Division I, II and III levels, is a private database with names of student-athletes who wish to transfer. It is not accessible to the public.

The process of entering the portal is done through a school’s compliance office. Once a player provides written notification of an intent to transfer, the office enters the player’s name in the database and everything is off and running. The compliance office has 48 hours to comply with the player’s request and that request cannot be refused.

Once a player’s name shows up in the portal, other schools can contact the player. Players can change their minds at any point and withdraw from the portal. However, once a player enters the portal, the current scholarship no longer has to be honored. In other words, if a player enters the portal but decides to stay, the school is not obligated to provide a scholarship anymore.

The database is a normal database, sortable by a variety of topics, including (of course) sport and name. A player’s individual entry includes basic details such as contact info, whether the player was on scholarship and whether the player is transferring as a graduate student.

A player can ask that a “do not contact” tag be placed on the report. In those instances, the players don’t want to be contacted by schools unless they’ve initiated the communication.

The portal has been around since Oct. 15, 2018 and the new calendar cycle within the portal begins each August. For example, the 2021-22 cycle started Aug. 1. During the 2020-21 cycle, 2,626 FBS football players entered the transfer portal (including walk-ons). That comes after 1,681 entered during the 2019-20 cycle and 1,709 during the abbreviated 2018-19 cycle. In comparison, 1,833 Division I basketball players entered the portal during the 2020-21 cycle after totals of 1,020 in 2019-20 and 1,063 in 2018-19.