NASHVILLE, Tn. — Tennessee basketball appears to be getting healthier ahead of the start of the SEC Tournament. The freshman trio of Nate Ament, Amari Evans and Troy Henderson were all partial participants in Wednesday’s practice open to the media at Memorial Gymnasium. They did drills and a good deal of five-on-five work before not doing anything the final 20 minutes or so of practice.
All three dressed out and did shooting drills during Tuesday’s practice in Knoxville but none of the trio did any five-on-five team work then.
Ament is the most notable player in the group, missing Tennessee’s last two games after injuring his right leg in the first half of the Vols’ loss against Alabama. The five-star freshman is dealing with both an ankle and knee injury. Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes has said that the ankle injury is the bigger issue. Ament is practicing with a brace on his knee for precautionary reasons.
“Nate Ament has handled this like a NBA player,” Tennessee assistant coach Gregg Polinsky said. “He’s been in here three times a day. Chad (Newman), coach Garrett, G, they have been working, like I said three times a day. He is doing everything he can do with all the resources we have and Nate has made rapid progress.”
A Second Team All-SEC selection, Ament is averaging 17.4 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game this season. He leads the Vols in rebounding, ranks second in points and ranks third in assists. Ament has been even more productive in SEC play, averaging 19 points and six rebounds per game. He’s one of Tennessee’s major sources of offense and him missing time has been a major blow.
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Evans has stepped up in Ament’s absence, starting each of Tennessee’s last two games. He’s excelled in the starts, totaling seven points, three rebounds and three steals against South Carolina then scoring a career-high 24 points along with six rebounds and three assists against Vanderbilt.
The 6-foot-5 guard injured his ankle early in the second half against Vanderbilt and re-aggravated it in the final minute before checking out and not returning.
“He’s nursing with it,” Barnes said Tuesday. “It’s still sore, which this time of year, I’m not sure guys that have those kind of injuries — Nate, him — if they ever truly get back to 100%. It’s what they can tolerate and what we can do with it. But I know again, with both of those guys, they’re doing everything they can to take care of their business with that.”
Meeting with the media in Nashville on Wednesday, Evans expressed optimism that he would play in the Vols’ postseason opener Thursday.
Henderson has been in-and-out of the lineup in SEC play as he deals with a left shoulder injury. He played three minutes against Vanderbilt, knocking down a triple and recording an assist before re-injuring the shoulder. Barnes noted Wednesday that Henderson will have shoulder surgery when the season ends. But for now, he is trying to grit things out.
Tennessee opens up play in the SEC Tournament on Thursday afternoon at 3 p.m. ET. The fifth-seeded Vols will face the winner of 12-seed Auburn and 13-seed Mississippi State.
More to follow: SEC Tournament
