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

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

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

“Had a lot of really good games for us over his two years here,” Alabama coach Nate Oats said Tuesday. “Will be good to see him. He’s playing well for them.”

In a different role than he filled in Tuscaloosa. Alabama certainly has familiarity with Pringle, but not in the way the Gamecocks are using him. Specifically on offense.

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

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

“They play a lot slower than we do, so he’s getting less in transition,” Oats said. “When the opportunity’s there, he’s still an unbelievable athlete that can get out and run. Take advantage if we’re lazy in our transition D.”

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

“Nick’s a smart player,” Oats said. “He’s going to know our play calls. We’ve got some new stuff, but probably 80% of it is what we were doing last year. He’s going to know what we’re doing on some play calls. I’m sure he’s going to alert them to it. They’re going to be a little more prepared than maybe some other teams would be.”

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

“We’ve got new personnel,” Oats said. “It’s so much in the flow anyways. We’re not calling a set unless there’s a dead ball typically. It does present a few challenges, but like I tell our team, I don’t really care if the other team knows what we’re running. We have to run it correctly.”

Nick Kelly is an Alabama beat writer for AL.com and the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X and Instagram.