North Dakota men's basketball announced Thursday that it will host 2024 NCAA Final Four participant Alabama as part of its nonconference schedule on Wednesday, December 18 from the Betty Englestad Sioux Center.
 
Alabama, who features Devils Lake, N.D., native Grant Nelson, are coming off a 25-12 season and reached its first NCAA Final Four in program history where they lost to eventual national champion, UConn.
 
"When Grant Nelson decided to go back to Alabama, Coach 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," said UND head men's basketball coach Paul Sather. "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."
 
This will be the first all-time meeting between the programs and the first trip to North Dakota for the Crimson Tide.
 
Ticket information, including single game ticket prices and the single game ticket on-sale date will be released at a later date. Fans who have already purchased, or are looking to purchase, season tickets will have the contest included. To buy UND basketball season tickets, email or call John Paul Helberg with the UND/REA Ticket Sales team at johnh@theralph.com or 701-777-6616.
 
In addition, the Fighting Hawks and Crimson Tide have agreed to play two additional contests in Tuscaloosa to open the 2025-26 and 2027-28 seasons.
 
North Dakota is coming off its best season under Sather, finishing with an 18-14 record and a 10-6 mark in Summit League play to place third in the league standings.