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Nate Ament injury update: Rick Barnes says Tennessee star will not be fully healthy 'until the season's over'

ns_headshot_2024-clearby: Nick Schultz03/20/26NickSchultz_7

As Tennessee put together a dominant performance against Miami (OH) on Friday, Nate Ament headed toward the locker room before returning to the bench. After the game, Rick Barnes confirmed the star freshman is still working through his ankle issue and might not be fully healthy until after the year.

Ament suffered a high ankle sprain late in the year, and Barnes said it’s still impacting him through the NCAA Tournament. He added Ament needs to rest, yet he’s still doing all he can to be on the court and help Tennessee make a run in March Madness.

But Barnes confirmed Ament likely won’t be back at full strength until the season ends. In the meantime, though, he will do what he can to help Tennessee stay alive.

“I’ve said it, Nate would play every minute of every game if he could,” Barnes said in the postgame press conference. “But he’s not going to be 100% healthy until the season’s over with because when you have that ankle sprain where he had it, he tries. I was watching him yesterday in practice doing some basic stuff. He never says a word, but I could see on his face, he was wincing a little bit.

“Obviously, when we had the lead – right now, he just needs as much rest as he can. But he’ll do everything he can to be ready. He’ll be ready. He will be ready to do what he can do.”

Ament did not score during Friday’s win over Miami (OH), but pulled down three boards and had a block. Ja’Kobi Gillespie led the way for the Vols, though, with 29 points on 11-of-21 shooting – including 6-of-11 from three-point territory – while dishing out nine assists in the victory.

Nate Ament has been dealing with multiple injuries late in his freshman season at Tennessee, but he made it clear he’s ready to go for the NCAA Tournament. His return in the SEC Tournament helped him get back to game action, and he’ll look to make an impact in the Round of 32 when Tennessee takes on Virginia.

“Yeah, for sure,” Ament said this week when asked if it felt good knocking the rust off in the SEC Tournament. “I wanted to play the next game after the injury after Vanderbilt. It was good for me to get out there and get some reps under my belt and get prepared for the tournament.”