NCAA Basketball: Why Grant Nelson is most impactful player in transfer portal

Unicorn

Unicorns do exist especially when it comes to Nelson. He finds himself labeled with that title much like others have labeled Kristaps Porzingis, LeBron James, Shohei Ohtani, Chet Holmgren and a few others. I don’t mean the horse with a horn on its head, although for my daughters’ sake I do hope that those Unicorns exist also. Unicorn in this sense means that Nelson does things on the basketball floor that no one his height can do, or at least can’t do to the level that Nelson has shown he can do them. It is very rarified air to be in. To be honest, after we all saw Chet Holmgren, I didn’t think it would be possible to have another player with that kind of skillset in the college game but here we are just one season later.

Nelson is a 6’11” big man who can play all five positions on the floor. He often brought the ball up the floor for the Bison and was able to set up the offense. The big man was also able to run and have the offense run through him when he wasn’t bringing the ball up the floor. It’s one thing to bring the ball up the floor as a big man, but when you are bringing the ball up the floor with handles and are able to break down a guard, weave in and out and dribble between your legs at 6’11” all before going hard in the lane and throwing down a one-handed tomahawk dunk, you are built different. Just check out the viral videos of Nelson and you will see exactly what I am referencing.

The Big man has not been able to shoot the three consistently yet, but he has a great stroke and shoots the ball with confidence, he has just had some hard luck as the ball has not gone through the basket. That is the only weakness in his game or at least the only weakness I can find by watching him play. He is an elite scorer and elite rebounder, and nothing suggests that he can’t repeat that at the power five level. Nelson had a 30 and 15 game and a 20-point and 20-rebound games on the ledger last season.

He is tall, but he isn’t built like some of the best rebounders in the country. Nelson is skinny and athletic, and usually is the most athletic player on the floor which he uses to his complete advantage. He averaged 18 points and 9 rebounds to go along with almost 2 blocks per game, he dominated the Summit League all season long and his unique set of skills will make him the most impactful transfer this season.