Grant Ament and the rest of the Penn State senior class sat on the team bus at a rest stop on March 12, halfway from State College to Lehigh, where the Nittany Lions were scheduled to play the Mountain Hawks just days later.

But in the days prior, the Ivy League had canceled its spring season, leading Ament and his teammates to believe they were headed for the same fate.

“We knew how good the Ivy League was,” Ament said this week on “Overtime” with Paul Carcaterra. “There would have always been that asterisk next to us if we won a national championship and the Ivy wasn’t in it.”

Coach Jeff Tambroni, with tears in his eyes, addressed his senior class about the cancelation of their final season due to coronavirus — a season in which Penn State had a strong chance to make it to the final four. He let them know the bad news, and there wasn’t much else he could say to comfort his boys.

All he could do was hug every one of them, knowing the loss that each felt at that moment.

“There was not a dry eye in the crowd right about then,” Ament said. “He just thanked all of us. Him and I have been through more than most from a player-coach perspective. Seeing him like that is like seeing your dad cry.”

Ament’s career didn’t receive the farewell it deserved. Penn State’s top player for the better part of four seasons, he set Big Ten all-time records in points and assists and broke the NCAA’s single-season record with 96 assists.

Just last year, Ament led the Nittany Lions to the final four in his hometown of Philadelphia, eventually falling to Yale in the semifinals.

Simply put, Ament is the best offensive player to ever put on the Penn State jersey. It’s no surprise that when Ament made his decision not to return to school after the NCAA granted an extra year of eligibility to all spring athletes, it was more than difficult. With a foot injury causing Ament to play at 75 percent this season and miss the entire 2018 year, he was ready to move on.

“It takes a mental toll on you,” Ament said of the injuries. “I think the best thing for me is to see what’s next, to see what the next chapter of my life is. I’m just excited to see what I can do from a professional lacrosse standpoint and a coaching standpoint. I’m excited to see what’s next after Penn State.”

With his decision, Ament closed the door on a dream come true. He grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs as a huge Nittany Lions fan, admiring the football players and traveling to State College for many games.

He knew where he wanted to go, and when he found lacrosse, his mind was set. He wrote in his sixth-grade yearbook that he wanted to play lacrosse at Penn State.

While his lacrosse career started to blossom at Haverford (Pa.), Ament got an invite to meet Tambroni and the Penn State lacrosse team in 2013. As a high school freshman who hadn’t played in recruiting events, Ament was not on Tambroni’s radar, but coach Travis Crane made the connection.

Tambroni gave Ament the full Nittany Lions experience.

“He brought me into the huddle and introduced me to the entire team and had me break down practice,” Ament said. “I was like, ‘This guy has zero clue who I am, I have braces on my teeth, I’m just a random kid and he brought me in with open arms. I was shaking when I got brought into the huddle.”

Years later, Ament headed to State College to start a career that will be remembered long after he’s gone.

Ament established himself as one of the premier passers in the nation by his sophomore season and found a lethal scoring threat to whom he could distribute. His name is Mac O’Keefe, and the duo became two of college lacrosse’s biggest stars.

Together, Ament and O’Keefe led a Penn State offense to consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, with the pair pouring in a combined 222 points in 2019. They had an instant connection on and off the field.

Ament and O’Keefe experimented in practice and found the combinations that worked on gameday.

“One practice, [O’Keefe] flashed to the ball and he had a guy draped on him and had only one hand of his stick,” Ament said. “I throw him the ball, he caught it with one hand, put two hands on the stick and went behind the back. I was like, ‘You want that?’ He said, ‘Yeah, give that to me every single time.’

“When Tom Brady was playing with Randy Moss, he found a way to get him the ball.”

They became one of the most productive tandems in the history of college lacrosse. Ament, though, was shy when Carcaterra compared him to the likes of Gary and Paul Gait.

“When you’re talking about the Gaits, those are the greatest players of all-time,” he said. “Just out of pure respect to the game, I will never compare myself to them, just because they were the ones that started a lot of what we do today.”

He may not enjoy the comparisons, but if he’s successful in his next venture — the Premier Lacrosse League — they will continue. Ament has been learning from professionals like Kyle Harrison for years, and he said he’s excited to play alongside them.

The memories from his time at Penn State will remain, and he’s alright with that.

“[I have] zero regrets with anything,” he said. “I know that I left my heart out on the field with everything I did. It comes to a point when you are ready to move on, and I am kind of at that point.”