The Alabama basketball team will be entering unfamiliar territory in December, playing the program's first-ever game in the state of North Dakota against the North Dakota Fighting Hawks. The game will take place on December 18 in Grand Forks and is part of both teams' nonconference schedules.

It will be a homecoming for Alabama forward Grant Nelson, a native of Devils Lake, North Dakota, who spent the first three seasons of his college career at North Dakota State before transferring to Alabama.

“When Grant Nelson decided to return to Alabama, Coach Stevens immediately asked if they would be interested in bringing Grant back to his home state for a game, and to Coach Oats' credit, they jumped at the chance,” UND head basketball coach Paul Sather said. “It's not often that a potential top-five team comes to Grand Forks! It should be a great environment and opportunity to play a great team on our home court.”

As part of the agreement, North Dakota will also play at Coleman Coliseum to open the 2025–26 and 2027–28 seasons.

Alabama's full non-conference schedule for the 2024-25 season is slowly taking shape, with several game dates announced in recent weeks, including Nov. 11 against McNeese, Nov. 15 at Purdue, Dec. 14 against Creighton and Dec. 22 against Kent State. The Crimson Tide will also travel to Las Vegas during Thanksgiving week to play three games at the Players Era Festival.

The game against North Dakota was originally scheduled to be rescheduled for the CM Newton Classic in Birmingham, which will now be postponed.