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The Tuscaloosa News
Grant Nelson gets homecoming as Alabama basketball schedules North Dakota
- Story byThe Tuscaloosa News
- Grant Nelson gets homecoming as Alabama basketball schedules North Dakota
Alabama basketball has added to its nonconference schedule for the 2024-25 season and beyond.
The Crimson Tide will face North Dakota in North Dakota on Dec. 18, UND announced Thursday. Then, the Fighting Hawks will travel to Tuscaloosa in 2025-26 and 2027-28.
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The first matchup signals a return home for returning starter Grant Nelson; he's from Devils Lake, North Dakota. He played for North Dakota State before transferring to Alabama.
"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 Oats credit, they jumped on it," UND head men's basketball coach Paul Sather said in a statement. "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."
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Alabama has a chance to be the top-ranked team entering the season. Its roster for 2024-25 includes returners Jarin Stevenson, Mark Sears, Nelson, Latrell Wrightsell Jr. and Mo Dioubate. Meanwhile, Oats and company have added several pieces as well; Rutgers big Cliff Omoruyi headlines the group of newcomers. He will give Alabama the rim protector it didn't have this past season; transfers joining him are Houston Mallette (Pepperdine), Chris Youngblood (USF) and Aden Holloway (Auburn). Alabama has also added freshmen Derrion Reid, Aiden Sherrell, Naas Cunningham and Labaron Philon.
Meanwhile, North Dakota is fresh off an 18-14 season with a third-place finish in the Summit League.
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: Alabama basketball schedule: North Dakota added for next three seasons
