Faculty Basketball 2025-2026 Buzz: Tennessee's Nate Ament To Miss Subsequent Recreation

[ad_1] A giant-time efficiency — or a key harm — could be the distinction for groups eyeing a spot in March Insanity.

With the ultimate weeks of the NCAA hoops common season upon us, it is now crunch time.

Closing 4 hopefuls, potential Cinderella squads, and bubble groups are gearing up for a dash to the end.

Protecting monitor of notable accidents, information and happenings throughout males's and ladies's faculty basketball.

Mar. 2 Tennessee freshman Nate Ament to overlook subsequent recreation Tennessee freshman Nate Ament gained’t play Tuesday at South Carolina due to a leg harm that knocked him out of the Twenty third-ranked Volunteers' loss to Alabama on Saturday. Ament’s proper knee bent awkwardly after he turned tangled in a scrum of gamers within the first half.

Tennessee officers mentioned Monday the timetable for Ament’s return is unsure.

Ament, a 6-foot-10 ahead, is averaging 17.4 factors, 6.4 rebounds and a couple of.4 assists. He leads Tennessee in rebounding and is the Vols’ second-leading scorer.

Reporting by The Related Press.

Replace on Iowa ahead Hannah Stuelke Following No. 9 Iowa's win over Wisconsin on Sunday, Hawkeyes coach Jan Jensen expressed hope that senior ahead Hannah Stuelke would be capable of return from the arm harm that stored her out in opposition to the Badgers in time for the Massive Ten event. Iowa, a 2-seed, will get a bye to the quarterfinals and won't play till Friday, granting Stuelke further time to recuperate from the harm suffered, in opposition to Illinois on Feb. 26.

Per USA Right now, Stuelke was unable to observe previous to the sport in opposition to Wisconsin, as properly, and that the objective is simply to get her wholesome. "If that could possibly be by recreation time on Friday, I am gonna be glad about that as a substitute of stressed about what could or could not occur."

Whereas Stuelke returned to the lineup in opposition to Illinois, Jensen assumed that it was going to really feel worst the following day after the adrenaline wore off, saying, "I had a sense that it was gonna be a kind of issues that once you get up, if pleasure's down, it is gonna be swollen."

Stuelke is averaging a career-best 13.9 factors per recreation, with alongside 8.7 rebounds and a couple of.9 assists, placing her because the second-leading scorer and prime rebounder on the Hawkeyes. Iowa already misplaced senior guard Taylor McCabe (8.1 factors, 3.5 rebounds, 2.3 assists in 27.1 minutes) for the season with an ACL tear.

Michigan considers choices at level No. 3 Michigan misplaced the very best backup level guard in faculty basketball, based on coach Dusty Could, when L.J. Cason tore a knee ligament because the group clinched an outright Massive Ten title with a win at No. 10 Illinois.

The Wolverines will definitely miss the smooth-shooting sophomore, who averaged 8.4 factors and a couple of 3-pointer per recreation, however Could mentioned the harm will give guards a chance to play bigger roles.

Place to begin guard Elliot Cadeau performs about 25 minutes a recreation, a quantity that will improve if he can keep away from foul hassle. "This can pressure Elliot to be way more strong together with his protection and decision-making," Could mentioned. "He would not have that insurance coverage anymore.

Cason was injured on Saturday night time in a 14-point win over the Combating Illini on Friday night time, and the group introduced the following day that he wanted season-ending surgical procedure. He scored in double digits 5 instances in February, together with a career-high 18 factors in opposition to Northwestern, and had a minimum of seven factors in each recreation final month.

Freshman Trey McKenney, sixth-year participant Nimari Burnett and senior Roddy Gayle every common about 20 minutes a recreation — and all of them can have an opportunity to be on the courtroom extra with out Cason.

Rutgers fires ladies's basketball coach Rutgers fired ladies's basketball coach Coquese Washington on Monday after the Scarlet Knights ended the season with 11 straight losses and did not win 10 video games for the second time in three years.

Washington was 42-84 total and 11-61 in Massive Ten play over 4 seasons. The Knights have been 9-20 this season, and their 1-17 Massive Ten document was the worst in program historical past in convention play.

"Rutgers ladies’s basketball has a proud and storied historical past of success and there's no motive why our program can not return to its place among the many nation’s elite," athletic director Keli Zinn mentioned. "We have now invested in ladies’s basketball in some ways, we compete in the very best athletic convention within the nation, and we're supported by passionate followers and dependable donors. I'm assured we'll discover the correct coach who can elevate this program to the place it belongs. I wish to thank Coquese for her service to Rutgers and need her the very best."

A nationwide seek for a brand new ladies’s basketball head coach will start instantly, Zinn mentioned.

Washington succeeded C. Vivian Stringer, the Naismith Basketball Corridor of Fame member who retired in 2022. Stringer coached 27 years at Rutgers, gained 535 video games and led the Knights to 17 NCAA Tournaments, together with 10 in a row from 2003-12. The Knights reached the Closing 4 in 2000 and the nationwide championship recreation in 2007. Rutgers' final NCAA look was in 2021.

Washington had been Penn State's coach from 2007-19 and was affiliate head coach at Oklahoma for one yr and at Notre Dame for 2 earlier than taking on at Rutgers. Penn State gained three straight Massive Ten regular-season titles from 2012-14 and made the Candy 16 in 2012 and 2014.

Mar. 1 USC, Chad Baker-Mazara half methods The USC males's basketball group introduced that guard Chad Baker-Mazara is not a member of this system on Sunday. Baker-Mazara sustained an harm throughout the Trojans' loss to Nebraska on Saturday. It was USC's fifth consecutive loss because it continues to fall off the NCAA Event bubble.

In the meantime, Baker-Mazara handled a number of accidents this season. He sustained a knee harm in a Feb. 3 recreation in opposition to Indiana, which stored him out three video games. He returned for USC's video games in opposition to Oregon and UCLA, earlier than finally, getting re-injured in opposition to Nebraska and parting methods with the group. That mentioned, there is no particular motive — harm or in any other case — that is been launched as the reason for his departure.

Baker-Mazara was a fifth-year senior, so this might imply the tip of his faculty basketball profession. His journey included a number of totally different spots. He was a freshman at Duquense. He performed his sophomore season at San Diego State, the place he additionally parted methods with the group as a result of he failed to fulfill tutorial necessities. He then spent a season on the junior faculty stage earlier than taking part in two seasons at Auburn, the place he went to the Closing 4. Given an additional yr of eligibility as a result of that freshman yr at Duquense was shortened because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Baker-Mazara opted to return to Southern California. Now his season, and probably profession, involves an abrupt finish.

Feb. 27 Tarleton State coach Billy Gillispie will not return Gillispie, who has been away from the bench for greater than a month due to medical points, gained’t return subsequent season, the college introduced Friday. Glenn Cyprien was named appearing head coach on Jan. 30, about two weeks after Gillispie stepped away. The 66-year-old Gillispie mentioned earlier this month that he was coping with coronary heart and blood-pressure points which have plagued him for years. The previous Kentucky coach had a kidney transplant in 2018.

Feb. 18 Toppin was doing his traditional work within the paint Tuesday night time, pouring in buckets and grabbing rebounds in opposition to Arizona State in a troublesome highway atmosphere. Then, late within the second half, the junior ahead drove to the basket earlier than happening in a heap, holding his proper leg. Toppin stayed down for a couple of minutes earlier than needing help to gingerly limp off the courtroom. The college introduced on Feb. 18 that Toppin suffered a torn ACL, ending his season.

Toppin completed with 20 factors, eight rebounds, 4 assists and 4 blocks, and the Crimson Raiders have been clearly shaken when he left the ground. He sat on the bench for a short interval earlier than going again to the locker room.

Texas Tech was trailing 61-56 on the time of the harm and fell behind 67-56 over the following couple of minutes. The Crimson Raiders regrouped and pulled to 70-67 within the ultimate seconds, however Christian Anderson turned the ball over, costing them an opportunity to tie the sport with a 3-pointer.

Lavin is out because the Toreros' head coach after three-plus seasons, per a number of studies. In 4 mixed seasons, San Diego went 46-79 beneath Lavin, together with 11-17 this season. He had earlier head-coaching stints at UCLA and St. John's.

Feb. 17 Arizona introduced that star ahead Peat has a muscle pressure in his decrease leg. Peat will miss the Wildcats' subsequent two video games in opposition to BYU on Feb. 18 and Houston on Feb. 21. Peat injured himself throughout the Wildcats' loss to Texas Tech on Valentine's Day. The freshman is averaging 13.8 factors and 5.4 rebounds per recreation.

Feb. 16 Huff will miss the rest of the 2025-26 regular-season due to a left knee harm sustained in observe on Jan. 14. He was given an unique timeline of 4-to-8 weeks, which meant there was an opportunity he'd return earlier than the tip of the common season. Nonetheless, on Feb. 16, Bulldogs coach Mark Few mentioned that his return will probably be a minimum of eight weeks, which means he will not return till after the West Coast Convention Event concludes.

Feb. 15 Okay-State fired Tang on Sunday "for trigger," per the athletic division, citing Tang's "public feedback and conduct, along with this system’s total route."

Moreso, athletic director Gene Taylor filed this assertion as a motive to fireside Tang for trigger:

"There’s language in his contract that addresses sure issues that may probably carry embarrassment," Taylor mentioned. "Principally, his feedback concerning the student-athletes and the unfavourable response to these feedback from lots of sources, each nationally and domestically, is the place I believed we wanted to make the choice."

After Okay-State's 91-62 loss to Cincinnati on Feb. 11, Tang mentioned his gamers "don't should put on this uniform."

"There can be only a few of them in it subsequent yr," Tang added. "I’m embarrassed for the college, and I’m embarrassed for our followers, our scholar part. It's simply ridiculous. We’ve bought observe at 6 a.m. tomorrow morning, and we'll get this factor proper. I've no reply and no phrases. … Proper now, I’m like pissed."

Tang defended these feedback in a press release. "I'm deeply disillusioned with the college’s determination and strongly disagree with the characterization of my termination," he wrote. "I've all the time acted with integrity and faithfully fulfilled my tasks as head coach."

Tang coached at Okay-State for the higher a part of 4 seasons. He led the Wildcats to the Elite Eight in 2023, his first season. Following that yr, Kansas State rewarded him with a seven-year contract extension, beginning with a $3.6 million base wage, together with a $100,000 improve annually, and an $18.7 million buyout. The Wildcats have been 10-15 total on the time of Tang's for-cause firing.

Feb. 14 BYU ahead Richie Saunders sustains season-ending harm Saunders sustained a torn ACL throughout the Cougars' win in opposition to Colorado on Valentine's Day. The harm successfully ends the senior's faculty basketball profession. He has performed all 4 seasons at BYU and leads the group with 64 made 3-point photographs this season. The Cougars had dropped 4 of their previous 5 video games earlier to a 90-86 additional time victory in opposition to Colorado. That they had additionally misplaced senior guard Dawson Baker to a season-ending ACL harm earlier this season. Saunders' harm is one other impediment contributing to BYU's dwindling nationwide championship probabilities.

The UNC ahead sustained a fractured left hand throughout the group's loss to Miami (Fla.) on Feb. 10. The freshman star leads UNC in scoring (19.8 factors per recreation) and rebounding (9.4 per recreation). He had 23 factors within the group's win in opposition to Duke on Feb. 7. Wilson's timeline to return is unclear, however there's optimism he'll be again earlier than the ACC Event.