Rick Barnes compares Nate Ament’s growth to Kevin Durant: ‘He’ll expect more’
By Ethan Stone
Published:
Nate Ament just keeps getting better.
The Vols freshman struggled to start the year, and at first it seemed like the former 5-star just wasn’t quite ready for the speed and size of the players in the college game. But while fans and media questioned Ament’s fit at this level, Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes preached patience: “I wouldn’t trade Nate for anybody.”
He said it at the start of SEC play, and he said it earlier in the year when the shots weren’t quite falling. And, once again, Barnes said it last night after Ament’s 29-point outing against Oklahoma.
Ament did a little bit of everything for the Vols last night. He finished through contact and found his way to the line, beat the shot click with a 30-foot triple and hit all 8 of his attempts at the free throw line while leading the Vols to an 89-66 win.
Postgame, Barnes couldn’t help but compare Ament and his growth to one of the best scorers the game of basketball has ever seen, another Barnes pupil, Kevin Durant.
“Same thing happened to Kevin Durant,” Barnes said. “Exact same thing. He hit January and the first couple games, and I can tell you, as I can close my eyes right now, we were playing Texas Tech, and he went out there, and I remember Coach (Bob) Knight shook my hand at the end of the game, he said, ‘man, that guy’s got it.’ That was his big — he had had some good games like that, but he took off from that point.”
Barnes continued: “They figure it out, that it is more physical than they thought. As physical as we try to make it without us getting somebody hurt in practice. They got to go through it. They’ve got to go through it and I wouldn’t trade Nate for anybody, because he’s come in here and has done everything and more. And I told him that, what, before the Florida game. I said, ‘come on, man, you got nothing to hold your head down about. Just, let’s go. It’s go time right now. Getting to the top of the mountain now, the altitude is getting thin and we’re going to — the strong survive. It’s time to go. It’s time to go. And he’s embraced it and he’ll expect more, you know? He’ll expect more.”
Ament is a member of one of the most impressive freshman draft classes of all time. At least, it certainly seems that way. Any other year he’d be a guaranteed top 10 pick, but this year is a little different with all the elite freshman to choose from. Here’s a look at the latest probability for Ament to go in the Top 10, via Kalshi.
The Vols will be back in action on Saturday against Vanderbilt.
Ethan Stone is a Tennessee graduate and loves all things college football and college basketball. Firm believer in fouling while up 3.
