The Alabama Crimson Tide have not had a good few weeks on the hardwood, losing two of their last three games to Ohio State and Clemson – thanks primarily to struggles on the defensive end of the floor.
Those issues are about to be exacerbated by the news that forward Nick Pringle has been suspended indefinitely thanks to conduct detrimental to the team, according to coach Nate Oats.
“Nothing serious off the court or anything, just in-house,” Oats told reporters on Friday. “There’s a standard we want our guys to uphold, and he wasn’t upholding it. I still love Nick, and hopefully, he can get himself figured out with the team shortly.”
Pringle is averaging 6 points and 4.4 rebounds in about 15 minutes per game, shooting a whopping 81% from the field but just 42.1% from the free throw line.
The former Wofford Terrier and junior college star averaged 3.5 points and 3 rebounds for Alabama in a small role last year, and was counted on to provide rim protection alongside transfer additions Grant Nelson and Mo Wague in Oats’ frontcourt – a huge area of need for this program right now.
Alabama has given up 80+ points in each of their last three games, and now will have to find a way to shut the door defensively against a trio of outstanding offensive teams coming up in Purdue (12/9) Creighton (12/16) and Arizona (12/20) who rank 4th, 19th, and 8th in KenPom offensive efficiency, respectively.