Dick Weiss on College Basketball
BOSTON– Alabama center Grant Nelson is a small-town kid from Devis Lake, North Dakota who chose North Dakota State over North Dakota, Northern State, Minot State and Minnesota State-Morehead, spent his first three years there, working on his game.
The lanky 6-11 senior was a relative unknown when Nate Oats plucked him out of the transfer portal.
But everybody knows his name today after he scored 24 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and blocked five shots, outplaying the University of North Carolina”s
four-year starting 6-9 center Armando Bacot during an epic 89-87 victory over the top-seeded Tar Heels in the West Sweet 16 at Cryto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
This was the first time Bama advanced to the Elite Eight since 2004, and only the second time in school history.
“We’ve been working for this all season,” Nelson said. “It’s good we got here. It’s something we haven’t done, only one other time.”
The Tide will play sixth seed Clemson, which defeated second-seed Arizona, for the right to go to the Final Four in Glendale, Ariz.
The BCS finally got its way– two football schools playing for a regional title.
Nelson’s offensive performance was a pleasant surprise to Oats.
“I couldn’t be happier for Grant,” he said. “But did I expect 24, 12 and five?”‘
Until Thursday, Nelson was just another guy who’d scored six points in the first two games of the NCAA Tournament.
“It’s a loving community,” Nelson said. “Really grew up with everything I could ask for,” playing basketball at the park every day. Had a good high school team. We didn’t
go very far many years, but I mean, they got me to North Dakota State where I stayed three years and entered the portal.”
Nelson was a first team All Summit League selection last year. He declared for the NBA draft, then withdrew and signed with Alabama, joining a team that was losing king size Charles Bediako, giving him a chance to be a major contributor for an SEC contender.
It was the first time Nelson had a home gym outside of the state. Nelson started all 35 games for the Tide and was the team’s third-leading scorer with 11.8 points per game and leading rebounder with 5.6 rebounds. But it wasn’t always easy.
Nelson liked new Crimson Tide assistant Ryan Pannone. He and Oats bonded over their bad golf games, and Nelson hoped to provide key length that Bama lost
after its 2022-23 Sweet 16 run. “I knew I fit in at practice, but it was a little different, the physicality. Everyone’s got length.
Nelson starred in his first game, going for 24 points against Morehead State. But he quickly found out he wasn’t going to be able to put up the same
numbers he could in the Summit. Alabama played some of the top big men in the country, from Purdue’s 7-4 Zach Edey to Mississippi State’s 6-11 Tolu Smith,
But Oats needed somebody to step up in what figured to be an up-tempo game between two offensive minded teams.
Oats was concerned the Tide may be losing its legs midway through the second half. After Bama cut Carolina’s lead to three points with 8:10 to play, Oats
called a timeout to settle his team, but he could feel his team’s energy. Down five with seven minutes to play, Nelson asserted himself, He scored 15 points down the stretch and added three critical blocks over the final 1:39 of the game.
“I didn’t start the tournament with the two best two games,” Nelson said. “These guys were saying, go out there, go get a bucket.”
Nelson produced a breakout game when it was most needed, “Grant showed tonight in a big way against one of the best bigs in the country,” Oats said. “People like Charles Barkley questioned whether we were frail. Grant showed we can go with the big boys.”
Guard Aaron Estrada from Woodbury, NJ, who played for St. Peter’s, Oregon and Hofstra before landing here, had 19 points, and Riley Griffin, who limited RJ Davis to a 4 for 20 shooting night nd 0 for 9 frm the three, had 19 while Al-l America guard Mark Sears added 18 for the Tide.
