Former Alabama basketball forward Nick Pringle is staying in the SEC. Pringle announced on Saturday that he is joining South Carolina via the transfer portal.

Pringle spent two seasons in Tuscaloosa, joining the Crimson Tide as a top junior college transfer from Dodge City Community College in Kansas after starting his career at Wofford. He hails from the South Carolina lowcountry and returns to his home state with the transfer to Columbia.

“It’s really rare to make it where I’m from,” Pringle said during Alabama’s NCAA Tournament run. “I just want to set that big example to everybody to make a change, to be a change. A lot of people come from great families but they get caught up in a lot of the extra stuff around it, so I’m really just trying to be a great role model.”

The 6-foot-10, 230-pound Pringle was up-and-down throughout the 2023-24 season for Alabama, but put in key minutes during the program’s first-ever run to the Final Four. Nate Oats and company praised his leadership throughout the tournament.

He was especially key during UA’s upset win in the Sweet Sixteen against North Carolina. Pringle played well defensively against UNC big man Armando Bacot, despite hobbling from a foot injury.

“We don’t win this game without Nick,” Alabama guard Mark Sears said afterward. “He was battling with Bacot, who is one of the best bigs in the country. They were going at it. Down the stretch when we were getting stops, he was a very big part of that.”

Pringle averaged 6.1 points per game and 5.1 rebounds for the Crimson Tide last season. He became the fourth former Alabama player to announce a new destination during the portal window, joining Rylan Griffen (Kansas), Sam Walters (Michigan) and Davin Cosby Jr. (Wake Forest), with Kris Parker and Mo Wague still not committed to a new school.

South Carolina finished last season with a 26-8 record, 13-5 in SEC play. The Gamecocks fell to Oregon in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.