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Nate Oats previews Grant Nelson's potential role for Alabama basketball

1918632_10206777287683070_1367905321192383146_nby: Charlie Potter09/25/23Charlie_Potter
Alabama forward Grant Nelson
Grant Nelson (Courtesy of Alabama Athletics)

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama men’s basketball team welcomed seven new players to its roster this offseason, including one of the nation’s top transfers in forward Grant Nelson.

Formerly of North Dakota State, Nelson was the No. 6 transfer in the country, according to the On3’s transfer portal rankings, and with so must roster turnover, has an opportunity to make an immediate impact for the Crimson Tide this season. Following Alabama’s first official practice of the season on Monday, head coach Nate Oats revealed Nelson’s potential role.

“He’s been really good in practice so far,” Oats said. “He’s gonna have a little bit different role than probably anybody we’ve had so far. He’s not a guard like Brandon Miller, but he’s certainly not a typical big. He’s gonna play with the ball in his hands a lot more than what a typical big would. But he’s gonna set pick and rolls, he’s gonna roll, he’s gonna pop, he’s gonna handle in pick and rolls, he’s gonna play on the perimeter, gonna post him against mismatches some. 

“We’re gonna put him all over the floor, to be honest with you.”

A 6-foot-11, 230-pound senior, Nelson spent the last three years at North Dakota State, where he scored 1,043 career points and recorded 520 rebounds and enters the 2023-24 campaign as the No. 41 returning scorer in all of Division I. Last season, on his way to earning first-team All-Summit honors, Nelson averaged 19.9 points, 9.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.7 blocks and 1.1 steals per game, which led his now-former Bison team in every category.

Alabama has to replace four starters from last year’s team, including the SEC Player of the Year in Miller. The frontcourt also took some hits with Noah Clowney and Charles Bediako turning pro and Noah Gurley exhausting his eligibility. Oats sees some of the Tide’s two drafted players in Nelson, who went through the NBA draft process himself before transferring.

“It’ll be a little bit different than probably anybody we’ve had here before, but maybe a cross between Brandon and Clowney,” Oats said. “Not saying he’s got the best of both of those, but probably a little bit more perimeter-oriented and handling it than Clowney but not quite at the level of Brandon with some of that stuff.”

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