Arkansas' Pringle enters final season with gratitude ahead of opener

Sixth-year senior ready to give back to young Razorback team

Arkansas Razorbacks forward Nick Pringle (23) looks on against the Memphis Tigers during the first half at FedEx Forum. / Wesley Hale-Imagn Images

Arkansas forward Nick Pringle never thought he'd be here. The SEC and coach John Calipari seemed more like a distant dream rather than a reality.

"I never thought a kid from Seabrook, South Carolina would be playing for Coach Cal," Pringle said. Like, never, never in my life. I watched this guy on TV, didn't even think I would be recruited on that level."

Pringle wasn't even supposed to be playing college basketball. He had already been one of the fortunate players to get an extra year of eligibility from the blanket waiver the NCAA gave to athletes for the COVID pandemic.

He had already made peace that last year at South Carolina was the end of the line for him in college basketball. For a kid that never expected to be in the SEC, Pringle has a good run.

He played 4 years at three different schools, including both Alabama and South Carolina. Going into the 2024-25 season, Pringle took his final lap around the conference, soaking in all the moments.

Then a judge in a Nashville courtroom reset the clock all over again. A United States District Court granted Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia an extra year nullifying the years that he spent at a junior college.

That spilled over to Pringle. Following his freshman season at Wolford, he transferred to Dodge City Community College, giving him an extra year.

Pringle still has plenty to give on the court, he started both exhibition games and despite only playing about 10 minutes in the two game, he's yet to miss a field goal provided physicality and length. But Pringle has a lot more perspective on his role compared to when he entered college basketball 5 years ago.

"It's a lot to take in," Pringle said. "Just to think back on the years, how far I came and how much I want to give back to guys that haven't even really scratched the surface of their career.

“And I feel like me doing that can change their lives and maybe advance theirs to make them the best version of themselves. That's all I really want to do."

Alabama Crimson Tide forward Nick Pringle (23) shoots the ball against Connecticut Huskies center Donovan Clingan (32) during the second half in the semifinals of the men's Final Four of the 2024 NCAA Tournament at State Farm Stadium. / Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

The trio of freshmen along with the quartet of returners, reminds Pringle of the 2024 UConn Huskies in terms of their potential, a team that beat Pringle's Crimson Tide in the national semifinal before winning back-to-back national championships.

For Pringle's final year, that's all that matters, team success. He's seen his playing time quadruple from his freshman season from 6 minutes a game to nearly 25.

He averaged 9.5 points in his most recent season, the highest of his career, but there wasn't much winning involved. South Carolina finished 12-20 and 2-16 in the SEC, although one of the two wins was a 72-53 blowout against his new team.

"I like team oriented stuff," Pringle said. "I like making a commitment to win this, to win that, to check off boxes. I feel like there wasn't a lot of boxes to be checked off last year."

Razorbacks Nick Pringle at practice at the Eddie Sutton Practice Center in Fayetteville, Ark. / Andy Hodges-Hogs on SI Images

The Razorbacks are not as experienced, but Pringle's relationship with assistant coach Kenny Payne is like having an extra player-coach on the floor. Pringle has made a habit of asking Payne what the team's biggest deficiencies are.

"I'm in the training room every day," Pringle said. "I'm talking to Kenneth Payne. What can we do to make this team better? His first thing probably like a month and a half ago was the physicality of us. That same week,

“I'm like, okay, it's time to get physical in practice. It's time to do this. It's time to do that. I asked him the other day, what else do we need to work on? That's just questions I like to ask to help expand our team."

Arkansas opens its season against Southern 6 p.m. Monday. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network.

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