Former Whale Branch, Gamecocks star on the market
By Justin Jarrett
LowcoSports.com
The next chapter in Nick Pringle’s basketball career is yet to be written, but the setting won’t be the University of South Carolina.
The Whale Branch alum and former Alabama standout told On3 on Monday, March 24, that he has entered his name into the NCAA Transfer Portal, ending his time with the Gamecocks after one season. Pringle also told On3’s Joe Tipton he intends to test the waters for the 2025 NBA Draft.
It will be the latest in a series of changes of scenery on Pringle’s circuitous route to this latest crossroads.
After leading Whale Branch to the Class 2A state championship game as a senior in 2020, Pringle headed to Wofford but didn’t find consistent playing time and found himself unsatisfied with his trajectory. He hit the reset button at Dodge City (Kan.) Community College and became the highest-ranked junior college power forward in the country, drawing offers from numerous schools before opting to join Nate Oats at Alabama.
In two seasons with the Crimson Tide, Pringle had stretches of high productivity, including during Alabama’s run to the first Final Four in program history, but he also found himself on the end of the bench or in Oats’ doghouse from time to time.
When Pringle committed to come home to the Gamecocks this season after two years with the Crimson Tide, he thought it was his final year of college eligibility. But a ruling that has come to be known as the “Pavia Rule” granted Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia’s an extra year — and set a precedent that extended the eligibility of former junior-college players like Pringle.
The year in Columbia wasn’t all bad for Pringle, despite the Gamecocks’ last-place finish in the SEC gauntlet. Pringle played in and started all 32 games, averaging career highs in points (9.5), rebounds (6.3), and assists (1.1) over 24.5 minutes per game.
In this age of NIL deals reaching six and seven figures, Pringle would be foolish not to see what options are available to him in the coming year.
He is a free agent in what has become a lucrative market, and while it would seem a professional career awaits overseas, if not abroad, nothing is guaranteed.
A bunch of teams around the country are a dominant rebounders and rim defender who can score away from dreaming about cutting down nets, and if Pringle finds the right fit, he could be standing atop that ladder again this time next year.
