Alabama coach Nate Oats has suspended forward Nick Pringle indefinitely for conduct detrimental to the team.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Oats announced the decision without providing any details about what led to it.
“Nothing serious off the court or anything,” he remarked. “In-house, there is a standard we want our employees to uphold, and he was not meeting it.
I still love Nick. Hopefully, he’ll figure himself out and be back with the club soon.”
Pringle is on his second season with the Crimson Tide. He transferred to junior college after attending Dodge City Community College in Kansas for the 2021-22 school year.
The South Carolina native started his college career at Wofford in 2020-21. In 15 appearances off the bench as a freshman, he averaged 2.0 points.
According to Mason Smith of SI.com, Pringle transferred to a junior college due to a “rough season on the court combined with poor academic performance”.
Pringle spoke openly with Smith about his on-court troubles during his one season with the Terriers.
“My lack of focus,” he said. “I feel like I didn’t really lock into the process, I didn’t trust guys around me, and I didn’t buy into what I needed to.”
Pringle played in 36 of Alabama’s 37 games during his freshman year. He averaged 3.5 points on 84.7 percent shooting and 3.1 rebounds per game, helping the Crimson Tide capture the SEC regular season and tournament championships, as well as a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament for the first time in program history.
Pringle has played in all seven games this season, including six starts. He had a season-high 14 points in a 98-67 victory over Mercer on November 17.
For the time being, sophomore Mohamed Wague will most likely replace Pringle in the starting lineup. He started for the first time this season in Tuesday’s loss against Clemson.
