Nate Ament injury update, Rick Barnes unsure on return to Tennessee basketball
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Nate Ament's availability for Tennessee basketball is still unclear.
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Ament, dealing with a high ankle sprain, has not practiced with the No. 25 Vols (21-9, 11-6 SEC) ahead of their final regular-season game against No. 22 Vanderbilt (23-7, 10-7) at Food City Center on March 7.
"I don't know that, if he's going to play," Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said before practice on March 6. "I know he's doing everything he possibly can through rehab. He's a model patient . . . I've said it before, if it was up to him, he'd play in every game, but obviously we've got to make sure that we're doing the right thing for him.
"We'll see today (if he's practicing). I think Chad (Newman, director of men's basketball sports medicine) had him doing a little running yesterday, but he didn't do anything with us. I think it's one of those deals where Chad might say he's doing better than expected, but still with that high ankle sprain, it takes time."
The 6-foot-10 freshman initially turned his right ankle when he landed awkwardly on a rebound attempt in the Feb. 24 loss to Missouri. He aggravated the injury in the first half against Alabama on Feb. 28, causing him to miss the rest of the game, which Tennessee lost 71-69.
Ament was ruled out against South Carolina, but the Vols didn't need him for the 78-59 blowout win on March 3. Ja'Kobi Gillespie's career-high 12 points drove a combined 42-point performance from J.P. Estrella and Felix Okpara.
Still, Ament wanted to get in the game.
"It speaks volumes," Barnes said about Ament's willingness to play through pain. "Nate, he's got so much depth to him. He loves the game of basketball. His DNA is such that he really cares about other people, he cares about this team, he cares about this program and it bothers him that he's not able to help us right now.
"He knows what we're trying to play for. But we know to get to the ultimate goal, we need him to be at his best."
Wynton Jackson covers high school sports for Knox News. Email: [email protected]
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Nate Ament injury update, Rick Barnes unsure on return to Tennessee basketball