Top college basketball recruit Nate Ament trims his list of schools. UK made the cut.
Kentucky men’s basketball is still in the race to land a commitment from an elite class of 2025 prospect.
On Tuesday, it was announced that Nate Ament — a 6-foot-9 power forward who is a five-star prospect and the No. 4 national recruit in the 2025 class — has trimmed his list of colleges under consideration from 11 schools to five.
Ament will still consider Arkansas, Duke, Kentucky, Louisville and Tennessee. Of these finalists, Arkansas — led by former UK head coach John Calipari — is the only school that Ament has yet to visit officially. Duke and Louisville are reportedly the leaders in Ament’s recruitment, with a significant monetary name, image and likeness (NIL) package set to be a key factor in his college choice.
Ament dropped Alabama, BYU, Georgetown, Kansas State, Notre Dame and Texas from his list of possible college options.
In addition to narrowing his college finalists, Ament’s planned commitment timeline has also now come to the surface. According to reports, Ament is planning to make his college commitment during this spring’s McDonald’s All-American Game festivities in New York City.
This year’s high school showcase will be held Tuesday, April 1, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Ament is one of 24 boys players that earned McDonald’s All-American honors this year, a group that includes 2025 UK signee center Malachi Moreno of Great Crossing High School in Georgetown.
Head coach Mark Pope’s first true high school recruiting class at UK already includes Moreno and left-handed guards Jasper Johnson and Acaden Lewis.
Ament, who plays high school basketball in Virginia, was teammates with Johnson on the United States team that won gold at the FIBA U18 Men’s AmeriCup in Argentina last summer.
Ament is the highest-rated prospect who has yet to commit to a school in the 2025 class.
“(Nate) Ament is one of the most versatile players in this class, combining his exceptional movement skills for his size with genuine feel, skill and motor on both ends. ... With his physical skills, feel, and growth curve, he’s on track to be one of the best prospects in this class,” Zach Welch, an analyst for Pro Insight Basketball, told the Herald-Leader this month.
On Tuesday, Ament’s list of college finalists was revealed during his appearance on The Youngins Sports Podcast presented by Swish Cultures. During that appearance, Ament touched on each of his final five schools, including Kentucky.
“Coach Pope, high character coach. Not just talking about X’s and O’s,” Ament said of the first-year UK coach. “But as a person, he’s a high-character guy and that’s something you like to see as a player. But also his offense is one of the best in the nation. (UK) gets up and down the floor, shoots the 3 really well, so seeing that as a versatile player who does all those things is very tempting for sure.”
Entering Tuesday night’s college games, Kentucky ranked fifth in the nation in adjusted offensive efficiency, per KenPom.
Pope — who previously recruited Ament when Pope was the head coach at BYU — extended a Kentucky scholarship offer to Ament in June. The Wildcats picked up their intensity when recruiting Ament in recent months, a strategy that was employed after UK lost a recruiting battle to North Carolina for five-star power forward Caleb Wilson in January.
Ament has had multiple up-close interactions with the Wildcats in recent times.
First, Ament was on a visit to Tennessee on Jan. 28 when a shorthanded Kentucky squad went to Knoxville and won. Then, Ament was on an official visit to Kentucky this month and watched another shorthanded win by UK over Tennessee.
After that win in Rupp Arena, Pope made a reference to hosting Ament for that visit. Then just a few days later, Pope went to Virginia to watch Ament play on his senior night in Virginia.
Nate Ament could join Kentucky basketball’s 2025 recruiting class
The Wildcats’ 2025 high school class is already well regarded.
Each of Johnson, Lewis and Moreno are ranked among the top 30 players in the 2025 class, per the 247Sports Composite.
Using that same recruiting service, Kentucky’s 2025 recruiting class ranks as the sixth-best incoming class in the nation. The Wildcats trail runaway leader Duke, Houston, UConn, Arkansas and Notre Dame on the team recruiting leaderboard.
Arkansas, Notre Dame and UK are tightly bunched together on that leaderboard, and landing Ament would easily give UK a top-four recruiting class in the nation for 2025.
This story was originally published February 25, 2025 at 1:03 PM.
