South Carolina's Nick Pringle (5) celebrates on the court during a men’s college basketball game between Tennessee and South Carolina at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center. Caitie McMekin/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Hogs' land commitment from SEC transfer big man

Originally posted on Arkansas Razorbacks on SI
By Jacob Davis | Last updated Apr 15, 2025 3:48 PM ET

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- Coach John Calipari received good news on the portal front as South Carolina transfer forward Nick Pringle committed to Arkansas, according to On3.

The 6-foot-9, 220 pound power forward averaged career-high totals across the board with 10 points, six rebounds, one assists and one steal with the Gamecocks this season.

His move to Arkansas could heavily benefit his college career as the Razorbacks' assistant coach Kenny Payne has worked with several skilled big men at the college ranks.

Just this season, Payne developed stretch forward Trevon Brazile and center Jonas Aidoo into double-double machines in time for a Sweet 16 run in the NCAA Tournament.

The frontcourt's emergence resulted in the duo averaging a combined 23 points, 18 rebounds and two blocks over the Razorbacks final nine games.

This season likely won't have any correlation with next season, the work Arkansas coaches did to get their two capable big men to play at such a level compared to the first 27 games was nothing short of a miracle.

Pringle will have every opportunity to continue his upward trajectory after scoring double figures in 14 games for the Gamecocks.

While he won't necessarily stretch the defenses as a three point threat, Pringle is confident near the bucket where 94% of his field goal attempts come from.

The senior forward hasn't been shown a consistent ability to block shots but is quite athletic with his dunks.

After an up and down season at South Carolina in 2024-25, Pringle finally hit a stretch towards the end of the regular season with impressive performances against Arkansas (18 points, nine rebounds) and Tennessee (16 points, 14 rebounds).

After starting his career at Wofford during the 2021-22 season, Pringle opted to go the JUCO route at Dodge City and flourished into the No. 1 power forward in the country.

He ended up signing with Alabama but didn't quite live up to his recruiting hype until the final nine games of the 2023-24 regular season by averaging 11 points and seven rebounds.

Pringle led the Crimson Tide that season with a 62.3 field goal percentage (86-of-138) and 40 dunks.

His finest performance to date came in the Elite Eight against Clemson when he recorded 16 points and 11 rebounds to seal Alabama's first Final Four appearance in school history.

Pringle decided to transfer after two seasons under Nate Oats and landed at South Carolina as the No. 123 overall player in the portal.