What changed for Nick Pringle in Tuesday's win where things finally clicked
Going back to before the season started, Nick Pringle would have to be a big focal point of South Carolina’s success. That’s what head coach Lamont Paris brought him in for.
Through three games, Pringle’s role has been different than what he was used to doing when he was at Alabama. For one, he’s been playing a higher volume of minutes each game. Opposing teams have also tried to test him more right out of the gate to throw him out of rhythm.
Both North Florida and SC State went right after Pringle early in the first two games and made him work for his points. If he went up for a shot, they’d wisely send him to the free throw line, where he struggled the most.
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But in Tuesday’s 80-54 win over Towson, things finally came together for the 6-foot-10 forward. He scored a season-high 15 points and nearly came away with a double-double as he recorded nine rebounds.
“I always knew I had it in me. (My teammates) knew I had it in me,” Pringle said. “I showed it in practice, and it was just translating into the game.”
One of the biggest differences for Pringle was a heightened sense of urgency. He said there was a change in his intensity going into this game. And because of that, he was able to play more physical around the rim and be effective.
“It’s not been something that he’s been asked to do a ton. And so, it takes time to get used to that,” Paris said on Pringle’s role. “There’s going to be some good days and some bad days, but I do have faith in his ability to create some havoc around the basket. He’s working hard at developing.”
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Going into Tuesday, Pringle had been shooting 3-for-9 from the field and didn’t start showing some signs of life as a scorer until the SC State game. But this third game of the year was when it seemed to click for him. In scoring those 15 points, he went 6-for-8 shooting and was a nice compliment to his front court mate, Collin Murray-Boyles, who finished with 27 points and nine rebounds.
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“It was a big change, especially playing for Alabama last year, playing in the dunkers a lot,” Pringle said. “Coach really built the mentality just to be confident within my work and myself and my teammates do the same, as well. Tonight, I feel like I actually believed in myself to go out there and do that.”
It’s just a one-game sample size but Pringle has to start somewhere, right? At least that’s the way he’s looking at it. It was a solid performance for him, but he knows there’s more he can do to help South Carolina win games.
“I want to definitely impact more on the glass,” he said. “That’s something I had a slow start to to this game. I feel like I can do a lot better on the glass, as well.”
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Overall, Paris was pleased with Pringle’s efforts and the way he was able to put it together. Now, it’s about taking that next step forward in his development.
“I just have always believed in having some presence around the basket if you can have a couple guys,” Paris said. “But I was happy for Nick. He did a lot of good things today. Some of them even involved putting the ball in the basket and that’s probably what he’ll remember the most about this evening.”
