Photo by Noah Clooten
With Alabama’s 85-65 loss to Duke in the Elite Eight on Saturday, the college basketball career of Grant Nelson saw its conclusion.
The Devils Lake native had five outstanding years following his high school graduation. It catapulted him into NBA draft conversations, and earned him pride amongst the Devils Lake community that will last for generations.
His college career started with three years at North Dakota State. In his junior year, he put up 17.9 points per game and 9.3 rebounds per game. The breakout earned him nationwide attention and an eventual transfer to Alabama.
“I really liked Alabama because of the coaching staff, the players they had, what they did the year before,” Nelson told the Devils Lake Journal last year. “I knew Coach [Nate] Oats could put together a good team, and he knew how to coach the right way.”
Nelson continued his success for the Crimson Tide. He guided them to their first ever Final Four appearance in 2024, coming up most notably with a 24-point, 12-rebound game in the Sweet 16 against North Carolina.
Nelson averaged 11.9 points and 5.9 rebounds per game overall in his first year with Alabama. He opted to forgo the NBA draft for one more year and come back for a final ride with the Tide, for whom he had a similar run of success this season. He posted 11.5 points and 7.6 rebounds per game, leading Alabama to its second consecutive Elite Eight.
“Coming in [to Alabama], kind of being a little underdeveloped, having these couches pour into me and my teammates help me out, it means a lot,” an emotional Nelson told The Next Round in the locker room after Saturday’s loss.
Alabama has only reached three Elite Eights in its history, and Nelson has been a part of two of them.
“We made history last year. I mean, back-to-back Elite Eights, I feel like that’s a solid career,” Nelson told The Next Round. “So I’m just so thankful for these guys, and thankful for these coaches and what they’ve done for me. And I just thank God every day for that.”
Nelson also received a North Dakota homecoming before he set off for bigger things. Head coach Nate Oats scheduled a regular-season game in Grand Forks against the University of North Dakota, the closest Division I school to Nelson’s hometown of Devils Lake. UND was one of only two D-I schools that gave Nelson an offer out of high school, with the other, of course, being NDSU.
In the game, which was held on Dec. 18 at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center, Nelson battled with Bismarck native Treysen Eaglestaff in a game for the ages. The Fighting Hawks, a team with a losing record in the Summit League, gave the Tide a scare by leading at halftime in an eventual 97-90 win for Alabama. Nelson’s 23 points and 10 rebounds helped offset a 40-point performance from Eaglestaff.
Most special of all, though, was that Nelson got to play one last game in his home state, in front of all the people who knew him before the rest of the nation did.
“I just felt so much love,” Nelson said that day. “It was great to play in front of my hometown fans. All the people who supported me coming up through my basketball career — it’s great to give back to these guys.”
Nelson was the 2020 Mr. Basketball winner in his senior year for the Firebirds. His younger brother Joel recently wrapped up his own Devils Lake basketball career, going home with a state championship and two region championships under his belt.
“It’s something he can brag about to me,” Nelson told the Devils Lake Journal last year. “I think right after he got interviewed, he said he one-upped me, and my other brother Leif, because we never won a state championship. So I thought to myself, ‘I’ll make it to the Final Four. One-him back up.’”
After some well-deserved rest, the next thing in Nelson’s sights is the NBA draft. Many outlets have projected him to be a potential second-round pick. The draft is set for June 25 at 7 p.m.
Nelson would be the second ever Devils Lake-born player to be selected in the NBA draft. The other was Glenn Hansen, who was picked by the Kansas City Kings in the second round of the 1975 draft. He played in the NBA from 1975 to 1978.
Hansen, though, went to Grand Forks Central High School, not Devils Lake. So Nelson would be the first ever Devils Lake High School alum to hear his name called in the NBA draft.
North Dakota will surely be standing up in anticipation this summer.
“It’s a small town, tight-knit community,” Nelson said last year about Devils Lake. “Just a great community for sports in general. I think that helped shape me into who I am today. It’s great, like when we made the Final Four, the elementary schools have a little pep rally. I saw a lot of those videos, so that was really cool to see. It’s great to have all that support from my hometown.”
