Getting to Know: Nick Pringle
The junior college system always seems to churn out several good players to high major schools every year. This past recruiting class, Alabama landed one of the top junior college prospects in the country by the way of Dodge City CC, six-foot-nine power forward Nick Pringle.
Pringle graduated from Whale Branch High School in Seabrook, SC in 2020. Out of high school, Pringle decided to go to Wofford to play basketball. He played very scarcely but did record a double-double during his one season there. After his first season at Wofford, he chose to transfer to Dodge City Community College.
At Dodge City CC, he had a lot of success having 14 double-digit rebound games, including a 20 rebound game against perennial power Hutchinson this past March. Not known as a scorer, Pringle offers a lot of rebounding and athleticism around the rim. Pringle was 6’2 coming out of his sophomore year of high school but quickly shot up to 6’9 by his senior year. He is still developing his game and getting comfortable playing at his size.
One area that Pringle needs to develop is his shooting touch. As a power forward in the SEC, he will be asked to step out at times in Nate Oats’ system, but he only shot 19% from 3 and 51% from the free throw line. You could expect Alabama’s staff to start working on his shot once he stepped on campus. What he lacks shooting the ball he makes up for with rebounding and defending the rim. Pringle had 10 multi-block games last season at Dodge City, and some 4 and 5-block games sprinkled in.
Pringle is 6’9 220 lb playing the power forward/center position in the SEC, so he will need to add some weight and muscle to his frame to be able to hold his own in the paint. He understands angles well and has decent to good footwork when maneuvering for rebounds and getting in defensive position. Developing his footwork will be a big key as well to taking him to the next level of his development.
Nick Pringle is a guy who will likely need a year of development to be able to really contribute for the Tide. With Bediako, Gurley, and the emergence of Noah Clowney, there are just not enough minutes to go around for everyone. There will also be times when Oats will want to play small and have more guards playing at once as well. I can see Pringle contributing down the road, but look for it to be later in the season or next season as he gets acclimated from the jump from JUCO to the SEC.