Rick Barnes gives update on Nate Ament’s status for Tennessee’s crucial matchup with Vanderbilt on Saturday
The status of the Vols’ young star for their matchup with the Commodores remains cloudy.
The Tennessee Vols have one regular season game remaining as they try to lock up a double bye into the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament next weekend. Standing in their way are the Vanderbilt Commodores, who have hopes at a late surge to a double bye themselves.
The Vols defeated the Commodores 69-65 last month in Nashville. However, the task very well could be much tougher this time around even with the game taking place in Knoxville. Tennessee star forward Nate Ament’s status for the game has been murky this week after suffering knee and ankle injuries against Alabama last Saturday. Ament missed the Vols’ 78-59 win on Tuesday.
Rick Barnes met with the media on Friday afternoon, and he said that he still doesn’t know if Ament will be available on Saturday against the Commodores, although it’s notable that he did not rule him out.
Rick Barnes says on Friday he doesn’t know if Nate Ament will play, but did not rule him out against Vanderbilt
“I don’t know that, if he’s going play. I know he’s doing everything he possibly can through rehab, working with (sports medicine coach) Chad (Newman) and G (strength and conditioning coach Garrett Medenwald) and obviously through our doctors. And he’s a model patient, if that’s what you want to call him. But other than that, we don’t know. I’ve said it before, if it was up to him, he’d play every game. But we’ve obviously got to make sure that we’re doing the right thing for Nate.”
As far as if he’s returned to practice, Barnes said no and that he was unsure if he would on Friday.
“No, no. I don’t know. We’ll see today. I really don’t. I think Chad had him do a little running yesterday, but he didn’t do anything with us. And again, I think it’s one of those deals where Chad might tell you he’s doing better than expected, but, still, that high-ankle sprain, it takes time.”
At this point, unless Ament truly has made a significant improvement, risking aggravation and further injury for a non-NCAA Tournament game does not seem wise, even with a big goal on the line in an SEC Tournament double bye.
Tennessee did manage to win convincingly on the road against the Gamecocks midweek, with big men Felix Okpara and J.P. Estrella combining for 42 points and Ja’Kobi Gillespie setting a career high with 12 assists.
The Vols might need to follow the same blueprint in order to beat Vanderbilt a second time this season. The Vols and Commodores tip off on Saturday at 2:00 pm ET on ESPN.
UPDATE (8:17 pm ET): Ament is listed as doubtful with a right leg injury for the game, per Friday night’s SEC availability report.
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