In multiple games the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel had played thus far in the PBA Philippine Cup restart, from eliminations up to the semifinals, it was Stanley Pringle who was hailed the most numbers of best player accolades for the Gin Kings.
As a matter of fact, in the game 3 of their best-of-five semis against the Meralco Bolts last Sunday, Pringle showed once again why he is one, if not the best, in the bubble.
In over 38 minutes of action as Ginebra tripped Meralco, 91-84, to inch closer to a return trip to the all-Filipino finals after three years, Pringle erupted with an all-around effort of 24 points, nine rebounds, and six assists. Although visibly tired, Pringle’s endgame heroics spelled the difference for the Gin Kings anew.
In a post-game interview, the most bemedalled mentor in league history, Ginebra head coach Tim Cone regarded Pringle as the “best player on the floor.”
“Having that guy is a true luxury. I’ll tell you every coach right now is saying we’re winning because we have Stanley. He deserves all the accolades he’s getting ’cause he works,” Cone said.
“Stanley is a worker. I mean, he’s not like, ‘I’m a superstar. I pull in here and play hard in games and in practice, I won’t do anything,’ He is an absolute worker. He works all the time. He’s the first guy on the court and the last guy to leave. All the time,” added Cone.
“He’s a special guy. Teams are figuring out ways to stop him, and no one has quite figured it out yet,” Cone further added.
With this, Pringle, born on March 5, 1987, is our featured player for today.
1. Competed Against Older Kids
Being in the US Navy, the Pringle family spent time in Korea and Japan. Stanley started playing basketball in a Japanese youth Navy league at the age of six. Given that his basketball talent and skills were beyond his age group abroad, Pringle competed against older kids.
Pringle then returned to Virginia, USA, with his family. He was then picked up by the Virginia Beach Heat, a local Amateur Athletic Union team coached by Steve Strausbaugh and Norman Hassell. For four years, he played as a starting point-guard of Landstown High School in Virginia Beach.
As a senior, he averaged 18.3 points and 6.1 assists per game to lead his team to a 22-3 record and the Virginia Class AAA state tournament final. For these exploits, he was named first-team all-state by the coaches, second team by the Associated Press, and was named the Virginia Beach Player of the Year.
Pringle scored 1,100 career points in his high school career and was the team captain for two years.
2. College Career
Playing under coach Bobby Bowman, Pringle spent his first two years of college basketball as the team captain of Pasco-Hernando State College.
During his rookie year, Pringle, who had per-game averages of 16.5 points and 3.8 assists, led the Conquistadors to a third-place finish on a 15-15 record in the 2006 Suncoast Conference. With this, he earned Freshman-of-the-Year and first-team all-conference honors that year.
As a sophomore, Pringle was 2007 Suncoast Conference Player-of-the-Year, first-team Florida Community College Athletic Association All-State selection, and earned an honorable-mention National Junior College Athletic Association All-American for leading his team to a 19-12 record on 18.9 points, 5.5 assists, 5.0 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per game.
He then transferred to play two years at Penn State.
For the 2007-2008 season, Pringle played in all 31 games, starting 12 of them. He averaged 6.9 points and 2.3 assists per game, shot a team-best 40.9% from three-point range and had seven double-digit scoring games.
3. Slam-dunk Contest Champion
In 2008-2009, Pringle, who averaged 12.75 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 2.8 assists, helped his team win the National Invitation Tournament. He was shooting 45.3% from the field and ranked 6th in the Big Ten in three-point shooting percentage with 45%.
Regarded as one of the quickest and fastest players in the conference, Pringle had his team’s highest vertical leaping ability at 37 inches and won a pre-season Nittany Lion slam-dunk contest.
4. Batch 2009
He graduated in 2009 with a degree in Labor Studies and Employment Relations with a concentration in Human Resources.
5. Played In Different Countries
In 2009, Pringle tried out in a camp for Filipino-American prospects of the Smart Gilas-Philippine national basketball team in Las Vegas.
Shortly after, he signed up with the Leuven Bears in Belgium. He spent the next season with Siarka Tarnobrzeg in Poland, where he averaged 12.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 2.4 steals per game.
Pringle then played for Dnipro Azot in Ukraine, averaging 15.0 points, 4.6 assists, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.3 steals per game.
In 2012, he played for the Indonesia Warriors, leading them to the championship with 18.6 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 6.2 assists per game.
6. 2014 PBA Draft
In 2014, Pringle decided to apply for the 2014 PBA draft. Many sports analysts predicted him to be that year’s first overall selection. And so it happened.
On August 24, he was picked by GlobalPort Batang Pier, who held the first pick. At age 27, he was also the oldest player to be picked first overall in the PBA draft until 28-year-old Christian Standhardinger was drafted by the San Miguel Beermen three years later.
Pringle won the 2015 Rookie of the Year award in the PBA.
7. From Batang Pier To Gin Kings
In June 2019, Pringle was traded to Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings.
As expected, he became a vital part of the team where they won the 2019 PBA Governors’ Cup championship. He averaged 18.4 points a game in the Finals series.
8. #LabanPilipinas
Pringle debuted for the Philippine national basketball team on the 2018 Asian Games Men’s Basketball, which finished fifth place.
Furthermore, Pringle played for the country’s 3×3 basketball national team, which played in the 2018 FIBA 3×3 World Cup in Bocaue.
9. Received Numerous Accolades
In the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, Pringle, along with other Gilas Pilipinas players, won the gold medal for the Philippines.
Aside from this, Pringle also received the following:
• PBA champion (2019 Governors’)
• 5× PBA All-Star (2015–2019)
• PBA Mythical First Team (2018)
• 2× PBA Mythical Second Team (2015, 2019)
• PBA Rookie of the Year (2015)
• PBA All-Rookie Team (2015)
• PBA scoring champion (2018)
10. Career-high
On June 22, 2018, he scored a career-high 50 points, including 9 three-pointers in a 133–115 win against Columbian Dyip.