I made fun of the mustache every time I saw it.

Whenever Grant Nelson took the floor for Alabama during the 2023-24 season, I wasn’t alone in thinking that his wispy mustache just didn’t fit his look. If he was a star? Sure. Do what you want.

But Nelson wasn’t a star. At least not at Alabama. He was a role player. He was a North Dakota State transfer who was a prolific scorer there, and the hope was that he would fit into Nate Oats’ offense nicely as someone who could stretch the floor and take slower, bigger defenders off the dribble at 6-11. For the most part, that’s what he provided. Heading into Thursday night, he had 6 points in the NCAA Tournament and after the only 3-pointer he attempted in the Grand Canyon game on Sunday in the Round of 32 (he missed), All-American guard Mark Sears appeared to yell at him for his shot selection.

So naturally, Nelson followed that up by lifting Alabama to its first Sweet 16 win in 2 decades. Considering the stakes of who it came against — No. 1 seed UNC — he was the face of arguably its biggest win in program history.

UNC watched the mustache man shoot, attack the rim, block and defend Alabama’s way to an Elite Eight berth.

We mustn’t forget about the blocks. Nelson’s final play of the night was him missing the second of 2 free throws, and subsequently swatting UNC’s full-court heave at the buzzer.

Of course he did that. If you watched the final 7 minutes, you expected that exact result.

OK, the more fitting result would’ve been Nelson icing the game by nailing those final 2 free throws. He is human, though it was easy to forget that down the stretch. Of Nelson’s season-high 24 points — he matched the 24-point game he had in his Alabama debut — 15 of them came in the final 7:06. That was as many as UNC’s entire team scored in that stretch.

The stuff of legend? You’d better believe it.

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Nelson got into a zone that’ll be remembered forever. A March hero, he is. Seemingly everything he did for Alabama in the final 7 minutes worked. It wasn’t just that he splashed a heat-check 3-pointer or that he maneuvered his way around ageless UNC legend Armondo Bacot to get buckets at the rim. Shoot, it wasn’t even that Nelson came off the screen-and-roll and finished at the rim while drawing the foul to take the lead in the final minute.

Nelson’s game-sealing block was his 5th of the night. When Alabama clung to a 2-point lead in the final minute and All-American UNC guard RJ Davis tried getting to the rim, Nelson was there to swat his shot before it could ever think about dashing the Tide’s hopes. On that same possession, Nelson again got switched onto Davis, only to force another bad shot that led to a shot-clock violation.

Not bad for a guy that wasn’t really known for his defense.

If Alabama’s season ended without Nelson’s brilliance late, what would he have been known for? In some ways, he would’ve confirmed skeptics like Charles Barkley who called Alabama “frail,” as Oats pointed out in the postgame interview.

There was nothing frail about the Tide’s performance. Grit. Toughness. Mustache.

Sorry. I’ll move on from facial hair.

Nelson’s defense off of the switches helped win Alabama that game. UNC could’ve probably utilized some better shot selection late, but Davis — even on a night in which he couldn’t buy an outside shot — on Nelson was supposed to be an advantage for the Tar Heels. It wasn’t. It was instead a reminder that this was Nelson’s moment, and we were all witnesses to it.

The only way to explain Nelson’s brilliance is to chalk it up to March. Up until Thursday night, Alabama was the program starved of a March hero like Nelson.

Let’s rewind a year ago. At this juncture, Alabama was the No. 1 overall seed and it drew what was at the time, a favorable draw against San Diego State. The road was paved for the program’s first Final Four run. Then the Tide got bullied and ultimately upset by an Aztec team that didn’t back down against the top-seeded Tide. Fitting it was that with the roles reversed in 2024, Alabama was the team that refused to back down against the top seed.

Or maybe it wasn’t fitting. After all, Oats called out his team after its 1-and-done showing in the SEC Tournament. He pointed to the defensive lapses and how Alabama wouldn’t have a deep March run if that continued.

He was right. Those issues didn’t continue. Despite what the 87 UNC points might’ve suggested, the struggles from the aforementioned Davis and Bacot prevented Hubert Davis’ squad from going on any sort of 15-2 run to change the flow of the game. Instead, it was a back-and-forth affair that was begging for a March moment. Nelson provided that and then some.

In the postgame interview on CBS, Allie LaForce asked Oats an important question. “After that performance, would you consider a mustache?” LaForce said.

Oats laughed with Nelson at his side and said “No, definitely not. There’ll be a lot in Tuscaloosa, but definitely not for me.”

It’s definitely for Nelson. After all, he’s a star forever. He can do what he wants.

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