Alabama men’s basketball will see a familiar face on the court on Wednesday: Nick Pringle.

The 6-10, 220-pound forward spent the last two seasons with the Crimson Tide. He transferred to South Carolina last offseason.

This week, Alabama (12-2, 1-0 SEC) faces Pringle in a matchup against the Gamecocks (10-4, 0-1) in Columbia, South Carolina at 6 p.m. CT on SEC Network.

“Played a lot of really good games for us in his two years here,” Alabama coach Nate Oats said Tuesday. “It will be nice to see him. He plays well for them.”

In a different role than in Tuscaloosa. Alabama is certainly familiar with Pringle, but not in the way the Gamecocks use him. Specifically on the offensive.

“The biggest thing is he’s just getting a lot more post touches,” Oats said. “He played more on the perimeter for us. A kind of connector. Now he’s actually being fed and expected to score in the post. He’s doing a pretty good job. We have to do a good job against him.”

Pringle is averaging 10.4 points per game, third among South Carolina players. A season ago at Alabama, Pringle ranked sixth in scoring with 6.8 points per game.

“They play a lot slower than we do, so he has less of a chance in transition,” Oats said. “When the opportunity presents itself, he is still an incredible athlete who can go out and run. Take advantage if we are lazy in our transition D.”

This is the third time Alabama has faced a former player this season. The Crimson Tide played Davin Cosby Jr. in an exhibition game against Wake Forest, then Mo Wague in the SEC opener against Oklahoma. This familiarity can help an opponent.

“Nick is a smart player,” Oats said. “He’ll know our play calls. We have some new stuff, but probably 80% of it is what we did last year. He’ll know what we’re doing on some play calls. I’m sure he’ll bring this to her attention. They’ll be a little more prepared than maybe some other teams would be.”

However, Oats doesn’t seem concerned that Pringle’s knowledge will influence Alabama too much.

“We have new staff,” Oats said. “There is so much in flux anyway. We don’t call a set unless there’s usually a dead ball. It does present some challenges, but as I tell our team, I don’t really care if the other team knows what we’re up to. We have to execute it right.”

Nick Kelly is a beat writer from Alabama AL.com and Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X And Instagram.