Rick Barnes knows Tennessee basketball‘s exhibition against Duke was the most physical game Nate Ament has ever played in.
The Vols coach wants his five-star freshman to use that to his advantage the next time he steps on the court.
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Ament logged a double-double in his debut for No. 17 Tennessee, which lost 83-76 at Food City Center on Oct. 26. He had 14 points and 10 rebounds, but Barnes thought Ament leading the team with seven drawn fouls was the best thing he did in his unofficial debut. And Barnes believes he could have doubled that.
“I think he could be one of the best in the country at drawing fouls,” he said. “He needs to get to the free-throw line more than he did. And it’s his first (game).”
The No. 5 Blue Devils were 25-for-27 on free throws; the Vols went 10-for-14. Ament was responsible for almost half of them, going 4-for-6.
The 6-foot-10 forward had no issues getting his shot off, but he was only 5-for-19 from the field, and he missed all five of his 3-point attempts. Ament took four jumpers in the last four minutes of the game and went 1-for-4. He made all four of his free throws in the final five minutes.
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“Game’s close and we know we need him,” Barnes said. “We don’t want him to think we’re losing confidence in him. We’re not.”
Barnes said the Vols aren’t as physical as they were a year ago, and they need to get there. He knew it going into the exhibition game, although he said they worked hard at being physical with Ament this summer, which will continue to help him throughout the season.
“But overall, we’ve got to understand there’s a whole different level, and we’ve got to get to it,” Barnes said of the team’s physicality.
To Ament’s credit, he didn’t commit a foul until there was 7:44 left in the game while getting his first taste of the physicality he’ll face all season. His fourth foul came with 30 seconds left to force free throws, and all four of his fouls led to Duke going 8-for-8 from the free-throw line.
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But Barnes isn’t worried at all about Ament.
“Nate’s learning how to be a perimeter player. We’re ecstatic about him,” he said. “I think this will be good for him because he’s so smart. He’ll look at it, he’ll figure it out himself. He’ll figure it out, there’s no doubt in my mind.”
Cora Hall is the University of Tennessee women’s athletics reporter for Knox News. Email: cora.hall@knoxnews.com; X: @corahalll; Bluesky: @corahall.bsky.social. Support strong local journalism and unlock premium perks:knoxnews.com/subscribe
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: What Rick Barnes wants Nate Ament to do more for Tennessee basketball
