LOS ANGELES −While Sam Walters munched on some salmon, green beans and mashed potatoes, he predicted the shot.
On Thursday before the UNC game , Alabama basketball players ate together in the team hotel like usual. Then Walters, when he wasn't chewing, took a moment to say something to Grant Nelson. That's when Walters spoke the play into existence.
Grant Nelson Legacy 3
Nelson, eating a burger, noodles, bowl of fruit, broccoli and rice, couldn't help but smile.
"It was great," Nelson told The Tuscaloosa News. "It was great he has confidence in me."
Later that night at Crypto.com Arena, Nelson proved that confidence to be well-placed. With 3:46 left against No. 1 seed UNC in the Sweet 16, Nelson drained a 3-pointer that cemented his legacy with an all-time great Alabama postseason performance. It was the exclamation point during a couple of series in which Nelson imposed his will and dominated. The triple was his seventh-consecutive point, giving Alabama a five-point lead.
"I literally screamed, 'Grant Nelson Legacy 3,'" Walters said. "That play probably turned me up the most the whole game."
That's saying something, considering Nelson made no shortage of plays. He finished the game with 24 points, 12 rebounds and 5 blocks. His efforts led No. 4 seed Alabama to the 89-87 win and pushed the Crimson Tide to the Elite Eight for only the second time in program history. Alabama will face No. 6 seed Clemson on Saturday.
At long last, Alabama got to see the Nelson for which it had been waiting.
The one the Crimson Tide brought in from the transfer portal via North Dakota State with the potential to be a matchup nightmare. He's 6-foot-11, 230 pounds after all. He wasn't just big, though. He was exactly what Alabama wanted and needed in its system.
"Once we got Grant, I felt like (the offense) could be this good," Alabama coach Nate Oats told The Tuscaloosa News in February. "Now we have a big that really plays how we want to play."
But Nelson had a marginal impact at times this season. That was even the case as late as the NCAA Tournament. In the first two rounds, Nelson combined for 6 points, 2 rebounds and 2 blocks.
Nelson certainly played better than that during the regular season in many games, but he never dominated like he did against UNC. That was on another level, but a level Alabama knew he could reach.
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"I thought he could be this good," Oats said. "Did I think he could be this good going into the game today? No. He had been struggling. I knew he was capable of it when we got him."
There couldn't have been a better time for Nelson to reach that level. Alabama, down one of its best players in Latrell Wrightsell Jr. injured , was going to need a heroic effort from someone to bounce No. 1 UNC from the NCAA Tournament. The Tar Heels had a top-20 offense and defense.
Enter Nelson, whose success was not by accident. Alabama had a voluntary shooting on Tuesday. Oats said three players showed up. One of them was Nelson.
"He's been all about the right stuff all year, even when he's struggled," Oats said. "He just stays with it, stays with it."
Then that persistence paid off with a performance that cements his legacy in Crimson Tide lore. Especially that 3-pointer late in the second half. You know, the one Walters called.
Walters isn't ready to call himself a prophet just yet, but he might have to try out his prediction skills one more time. Walters has already thought of what he will start saying at the next pregame meal.
"I hope I can call a Final Four run," Walters said. "I'm going to say, 'Final Four Run."
Nick Kelly is the Alabama beat writer for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network, and he covers Alabama football and men's basketball. Reach him at nkelly@gannett.com or follow him @_NickKelly on X, the social media app formerly known as Twitter .
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Grant Nelson emerged for Alabama basketball vs UNC, and just in time
