Rick Barnes’ viral moment near the end of Tennessee’s win over Ole Miss should scare the rest of college basketball
The Tennessee Vols used a big second half to take down the Ole Miss Rebels.
True freshman forward Nate Ament had a huge second half in the Tennessee Vols’ win over the Ole Miss Rebels on Tuesday night in Knoxville.
Ament scored 26 of his 28 points in the second half while helping lead Tennessee to an 84-66 win.
The performance was so impressive that it drew a rare smile from Vols head coach Rick Barnes as Ament made his way to the bench after exiting the game for the final time.
Barnes cares about his players as much as any coach in college basketball, but he’s also one of the most demanding coaches in the sport. You don’t often see Barnes looking that satisfied with a young player’s performance while the game is still being played.
“I wouldn’t trade Nate for anybody in the country because I think he’s been good all year,” said Barnes after the game. “I knew it would take some time to figure out the physicality part of it, like any freshman, to add to his game. But for him to do what he did, I mean, he earns it. If you were here yesterday at practice, he was the last guy wanting to leave.”
Nate Ament’s emergence should scare the rest of college basketball
It took Ament a little while to find his groove this season as he adjusted to the SEC, but everyone is now starting to see why Barnes was so high on him entering the season. Ament is averaging 22.1 points per game over his last seven games.
“Nate, he’s special,” said Barnes on Tuesday night. “Just in so many different ways. And coaches will always talk about great teammates, and he is a great teammate. One of the most unselfish people I’ve ever been around. There’s so much more to him than basketball. He wants to be great at it, but it’s not what identifies him. There’s so much more to Nate.”
Ament is the type of talent that can carry a team. He’s starting to play with a lot of confidence at the right part of the season for the Vols. And with the SEC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament coming up next month, that’s the last thing the rest of college basketball wants to see.
Tennessee has a lot of work to do, and so does Ament, so the team can’t look ahead to March. But this Vols team is starting to find its way at the right part of the season. Remember, this is the same team that beat Houston in November — the Vols absolutely have the talent to make a deep tournament run.
And that’s especially if Ament plays like this down the stretch.
Tennessee Volunteers News
Tennessee Vols forward Nate Ament goes viral for his reaction to win against the Georgia Bulldogs
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