Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes smiled as he said he didn’t ask about any potential minutes restriction for the returning Nate Ament before the Vols’ win over Auburn in the SEC Tournament on Thursday.
“I didn’t ask,” Barnes said with a grin. “No one said it to me.”
The star freshman and Second Team All-SEC player had sat out of Tennessee’s final two regular-season games with an injury that was suffered against Alabama late in the season. But with Tennessee having some extended time between the finale against Vanderbilt and the SEC Tournament, Ament had time to heal. He returned to practice on Wednesday and participated in five-on-five drills for the first time since before the Alabama game.
Ament was in the starting lineup against the Tigers on Thursday, but there was still a question about whether he had limited minutes in his return. As it would turn out, that wasn’t the case. Ament played 32 minutes against the Tigers, which is more than his average of 30.1 minutes per game during the regular season.
“I felt great,” Ament said after the game. “Felt pretty good.”
The 6-foot-10 freshman said that he knew he would be back in action after a conversation with Tennessee’s training staff on Wednesday night.
“I mean, me and all the coaches and our trainer, we’ve been in constant communication,” Ament said. “I kind of knew early last night I was going to play.”
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Barnes said after the game that Ament wanted to play in the two games that he sat out of, but Tennessee kept him on the bench with bigger hopes on the horizon. This win over Auburn, in which Ament put up a team-high 27 points, was the start of that bigger run.
“It’s different when you get to sit and watch the game, watch them practice,” Ament said about his time off the court. “I can kind of understand the things we need to do better, what we are as a team, running to get the ball. A lot of my energy and focus today was trying to get the big men involved as much as possible because I think we’re a dangerous team when our big mans are playing well.”
Ament’s 32 minutes were the most he’s played since tallying 36 minutes against Missouri on Feb. 24 in Columbia. He told Rocky Top Insider that he’s feeling good to go after the win against Auburn.
“For sure,” Ament told RTI when asked if he’s 100%. “Huge credit to Chad, our athletic trainer, G, our strength coach and all the doctors that we have in the program. They’ve been doing a terrific job of getting me back to 100%. It’s still a little bit sore and stuff like that but it’s alright. I can play through it.”
Ament proved to be the spark that Tennessee needed against the Tigers. With Auburn leading for much of the game, Ament helped the Vols erupt for a 20-0 run in the second half. That stretch not only got Tennessee back into the game but gave the team the lead that they needed to get to the finish line. Ament finished with 27 points on 7-of-15 shooting, 4-of-6 shooting from the three-point line, and 9-of-13 from the free-throw line. He also added eight rebounds and four assists.
After the adrenaline dies down, the next step for Ament will be getting ready to step back on the court in less than 24 hours. But he seemed to feel good after the game and ready to go.
“We’re going to listen and pay attention to the diagnostics, all that stuff we get, the information,” Barnes said after the game. “But that’s just toughness overall. No one told me today that we had a restriction. I thought they would, but they didn’t. I didn’t ask. I didn’t ask.”
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