Five-star freshman Nate Ament lived up to the extremely high expectations set out for him in his second game with Tennessee basketball. In the Vols’ 95-56 win over Northern Kentucky, he posted a team-high 23 points on 6-for-12 shooting from the field, 2-for-4 from three and 9-for-10 at the free throw line. He also notched eight rebounds, five assists and two steals in the game.
Afterward, Ament met with the media for a press conference to discuss his second official game with UT. He was asked about the freshman class across the country, his playmaking and more.
Here’s what he said.
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On embracing contact in the second half at the rim
“That’s a little bit of me during halftime. During practice, Coach Barnes harps on me going straight up a lot. Not fading away, going into contact. That’s just a product of him helping me learn the game.”
On if it was a point of emphasis for him to pass more
“I think I’m starting to go into every game with a mindset of trying to find my teammates early. Getting them involved in the game. Tried to do that last game, just didn’t get the assists. That’s kind of a point of emphasis for me every game.”
On the impact on the offense when JP Estrella is scoring
“I just think it helps shooters like me and Ja’Kobi and everyone else on the team get more space. They have to respect him. They got to help on his post-ups. The better he’s playing offensively, the better we play as a team.”
On going 9-for-10 on free throws
“I’ve just been working on my free throws after every practice. Shooting at least like 60-100 every day. Just trying to be more efficient with my shots and how hard I work at getting those shots.”
On Ja’Kobi Gillespie’s dunk
“I thought he was about to lay it up. I didn’t know he had bounce like that. We were all just happy. It’s good to be a part of the bench energy when something like that happens. I didn’t know he had that in him to be honest.”
On if he watches other top-ranked freshmen across the country
“I try to watch them as much as I can. They’re all a part of great teams, all top teams in the top 25. I’m friends with all those guys, try to root them on. Also, just competitive, I want to be better than those guys and I’m sure they want to be better than me. Having this good of a freshman class definitely drives me to be better each and every day, but I think I do a good job just allowing myself to go every day and not really focus too much on the future.”
