Alabama basketball to play at North Dakota in homecoming game for Grant Nelson
The Alabama basketball team will play a game in Grant Nelson’s home state this season.
The Crimson Tide will travel to play the North Dakota Fighting Hawks at the Betty Englestad Sioux Center on Wednesday, Dec. 18, the latter program announced on Thursday. Nelson is a native of Devils Lake, North Dakota, and will be playing in his final year of college.
Nelson chose to return to Alabama for a second season – and his fifth at the collegiate level. In three years at North Dakota State, Nelson faced UND a total of seven times, and the Bison were 6-1 in those contests. Nelson averaged 16.9 points against the Fighting Hawks and recorded a career-high 36 points during an NDSU home win (91-75) on Jan. 27, 2022.
“When Grant Nelson decided to go back to Alabama, Coach Stevens reached out immediately to see if they had interest in bringing Grant back to his home state for a game, and to Coach Oats’ credit, they jumped on it,” said UND head coach Paul Sather in a release. “Not often do you get a potential top-5 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.”
In addition to this season’s matchup, Alabama and North Dakota have also agreed to play two additional games in Tuscaloosa, Alabama to open the 2025-26 and 2027-28 campaigns.
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This will be the first-ever meeting between the programs and the first trip to North Dakota for the Crimson Tide. North Dakota is coming off its best season under Sather, finishing with an 18-14 overall record and a 10-6 mark in Summit League play to place third in its league.
Alabama’s 2024-25 Non-Conference Schedule
Nov. 11 – McNeese State
Nov. 15 – at Purdue
Nov. 26, 27, 29 – Players Era Festival (Las Vegas)
Dec. 14 – Creighton
Dec. 18 – at North Dakota
Dec. 22 – Kent State
TBD – Illinois (Birmingham)
TBD – ACC/SEC Challenge
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