Tennessee basketball star wing Nate Ament will not practice Monday ahead of the Vols’ road trip to South Carolina, associate head coach Justin Gainey shared Monday.
Gainey did not have any other meaningful updates during his Monday media availability on Ament’s status after he suffered a a right leg injury against Alabama
“I don’t know. I haven’t spoken to (trainer) Chad (Newman) yet,” Gainey said of Ament’s status. “I know he won’t be at practice today. I know he won’t practice today and so we’ll just kind of get updated from Chad here shortly. And we’ll kind of see what the diagnosis will be.”
Ament was on the ground trying to corral a loose ball when an Alabama player fell on his right leg and it bent backwards. The injury occurred with 7:52 remaining in the first half. He briefly returned in the second half but played less than three minutes before exiting for the remainder of the game.
Following the game, Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes noted that Ament both suffered a knee injury and re-aggravated the ankle that he rolled at Missouri earlier in the week. Gainey said that swelling in both areas made it difficult to determine which was a bigger concern long term.
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Ament had a MRI on both areas of his right leg Sunday with Tennessee hoping to figure out more information later on Monday.
“I know it was, the swelling that was in both areas made it really, I guess tough to kinda determine which was a greater concern,” Gainey said. “But I think we’ll get more clarity today and as the days go.”
Ament is Tennessee’s second leading scorer on the season, entering the rematch with Alabama averaging 17.9 points per game on 41.7% shooting from the field and 32.8% shooting from three-point range. He also leads Tennessee 6.5 rebounds per game as well as 2.5 assists per game.
The 6-foot-10 wing has beeb even better in SEC play where he’s averaging 20.1 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. Ament was phenomenal in the Vols’ win at Alabama last month, totaling 29 points, seven rebounds and three assists in the 79-73 victory.
Tennessee is back in action Tuesday night when they face South Carolina in Columbia. Tipoff between the Vols and Gamecocks is at 6 p.m. ET at Colonial Life Arena. The SEC Network is broadcasting the game.
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