Photo By Andrew Ferguson/Tennessee Athletics
Tennessee Basketball freshman Nate Ament is working his way through his first collegiate basketball season and preparing for a rivalry game against Kentucky at home on Saturday afternoon in Knoxville. Through the first 17 games of the season, Ament is averaging 15.4 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game for the Volunteers.
He’s struggled to find consistency at times, especially against ranked teams, but he’s been finding a recent groove to work in. In his last two SEC games, Ament put up 17 points in a loss to Florida and 23 points in a double-overtime win over Texas A&M. His showing in the game against the Aggies helped inspire some confidence in him turning the corner, as he scored a bulk of his points in crunch time.
“I think when Nate just kinda lets go of the reins a little bit, he’s really good,” assistant coach Gregg Polinsky said on Friday. “I think we saw some of that. It was pretty special some of the shots he made in crunch time. I think the most exciting thing for me wasn’t just the shots he made. Obviously, they were very beneficial to the outcome of the game, but that he wanted the basketball, he wanted to do it. And that’s when you start to arrive, you know?”
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ESPN’s Jeff Borzello put out groupings for college basketball’s top freshman players through the midway point of January: Top 10 So Far, Rest of the Best, Elite… When They Play, Seven Surprises, Twelve Mid-Major Stars, and Recruits Waiting Their Turn.
Ament landed in the ‘Rest of the Best’ category, which appears to have been made before his 23-point showing against the Aggies.
“Entering college right behind the big three freshmen (Darryn Peterson, AJ Dybantsa) when it comes to prospects, Ament came out of the gates playing at a high level,” Borzello writes. “He was averaging 19.0 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists through his first six games. He has since slowed down, showing some inconsistency on the offensive end, but he’s still averaging 14.9 points on the season and just had 17 against Florida.”
Other notable entries from the SEC include Arkansas PG Darius Acuff Jr. (Top 10), Arkansas guard Maleek Thomas (Best of the Rest), Alabama forward Amari Allen (Seven Surprises), Florida’s CJ Ingram and Alex Lloyd (Waiting Their Turn), Ole Miss forward Niko Bundalo (Waiting Their Turn), Auburn guard Kaden Magwood (Waiting Their Turn), and Arkansas forward Paulo Semedo (Waiting Their Turn).
While Ament’s NBA stock has dropped a bit since his preseason projections, he’s still firmly in the mix of a lottery projection. ESPN’s latest mock draft this week had him tagged to go 7th overall to the Charlotte Hornets.
“Nate is, I don’t know what people say, people have no idea how hard he works, how good of a kid he is,’ head coach Rick Barnes said about Ament on Tuesday. “And how he comes right out of high school game-planned for every game. The physicality is something that, as much as we try to beat on him through the summer with players and doing this and doing that, it’s different when you get in the game. And he’s tried to play through it. He was better tonight, I felt, really fighting to drive, trying to get there, trying to get to his spots.”
No. 24 Tennessee will return to the court on Saturday afternoon for a game against Kentucky at Noon in the Food City Center. Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider for live coverage of the game.
