South Carolina Basketball: Lamont Paris gets his guy, Palmetto State native commits to Gamecocks

South Carolina basketball coach Lamont Paris had himself a big weekend. The Gamecock headman had one of his biggest (literally) transfer portal visitors on campus for a visit, and based on various postings online from fans of the garnet and black, Paris and former Alabama Crimson Tide center Nick Pringle were seen together in multiple places on Friday and Saturday, including the South Carolina baseball game on Saturday night.

The efforts paid off for Paris and his team as Pringle announced Saturday night on his personal Instagram page that he was returning to his home state to play for the South Carolina basketball program in his final year of eligibility.

Pringle fills a big need for the Gamecocks as he is a big and athletic post player who can play the 5-spot against physically imposing SEC bigs. At 6'10" and 230 pounds, he will provide athleticism and aggression to the center position next to star sophomore power forward Collin Murray-Boyles.

Pringle has enough bounce in his game to bring an above-the-rim element to the Carolina offense next season, and he will be a good enough shot-blocker to be a deterrent at the rim for the other team.

Pringle and Jordan Butler (another transfer portal commitment who also provides some shooting touch to the post) will be the team's primary 5s, but veteran reserve Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk, incoming freshman Okku Federiko, and even Murray-Boyles could get some run at the spot, as well.

With Josh Gray (transfer portal), Stephen Clark (graduation), and BJ Mack (graduation) all no longer with the program, Pringle, Butler, and Federiko will look to fill in the missing production and then some as the 2024-2025 version of South Carolina basketball team seeks its first back-to-back trips to the NCAA Tournament since the '90s.

The Gamecocks need to bring in a point guard before the transfer portal cycle ends, but given Paris' rate of success recruiting the portal, fans should have confidence in that roster hole being filled. For now, though, the fanbase can celebrate because Nick Pringle is a Gamecock.

You can watch some of his film here.