How has former UK recruit Nate Ament played at Tennessee this season?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Former UK basketball recruit Nate Ament has been a star player at Tennessee this season.
- With the Volunteers, Ament is averaging 15.4 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.5 assists.
- UK plays at Tennessee at 12 p.m. Saturday.
For the second time this season, a former top Kentucky basketball recruiting target is set to square off against the Wildcats.
In early December, former UK recruit and current North Carolina freshman forward Caleb Wilson played a major role in the Tar Heels’ narrow nonconference win in Rupp Arena. Now, on the heels of a chaotic Kentucky comeback victory at LSU, another first-year college star will look to occupy that same role for the Tennessee Volunteers.
Nate Ament figures to be at the top of the scouting report for Mark Pope’s Wildcats as UK and Tennessee face off Saturday afternoon inside Knoxville’s Thompson-Boling Arena.
Ament — a 6-foot-10 freshman forward from Virginia — committed to head coach Rick Barnes and the Volunteers from a final shortlist of programs that also included Arkansas, Duke, Kentucky and Louisville. Ament, who was honored as a McDonald’s All-American, finished the 2025 recruiting cycle as the No. 4 prospect in the nation per the 247Sports Composite.
He arrived at Tennessee this season with hopes of a one-and-done college career that would lead to a first-round selection in this summer’s NBA draft. So far, so good.
Ament has started all 17 games for the Vols, with per-game averages of 15.4 points, 6.4 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 27.8 minutes played. He’s among Tennessee’s top three contributors in each of those categories.
While Ament has struggled from 3-point range this season — he’s shooting just 27.1% from distance on more than four attempts per game — the five-star recruit is averaging 1.4 steals as one of the SEC’s top two-way freshmen.
In Tennessee’s most recent game — a double-overtime home win over Texas A&M on Tuesday night — Ament went for 23 points and seven rebounds. This matched his career high scoring total at the college level. Ament scored 10 of his points during the overtime periods.
That matchup with the Aggies also saw Ament play significant minutes at the 4 spot.
“I thought Nate (has responded well) two games in a row now,” Barnes said after Tuesday’s win over the Aggies. “He started off (poorly) and we sat him down. I thought while he was (on the bench) something happened because he started seeing the game totally differently when he came on the court. His ball-handling was certainly a big key in the game in the second half.”
ESPN’s Jeremy Woo published his first 2026 NBA mock draft of the new year earlier this week, and Woo projects Ament to be a top-10 pick. Ament’s perimeter skill, size and versatility are some of his biggest calling cards as a pro prospect, along with his long-term potential.
Woo’s latest mock draft has Ament as the No. 7 overall pick in the draft, one spot ahead of Kentucky sophomore forward Jayden Quaintance. There also seems to still be plenty of debate whether Ament fits best in the NBA as a power forward or on the wing.
“Nate is learning. He would tell you that the physicality is much different than he ever could imagine (in college basketball). Even as much as we tried to beat him up this summer,” Barnes said Tuesday. “But we do think if he gets to his spot that he’s a weapon, (by) getting the ball up over people.”
The Wildcats could look to exploit Ament’s turnover-prone nature. Ament has committed at least three giveaways in eight games this season.
This weekend’s game will be the first meeting between Kentucky and Tennessee since the Volunteers ended the Wildcats’ season last year with a dominant victory in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. Before that, Pope’s program swept the regular season series over the Vols.
Kentucky will host Tennessee on Feb. 7 at Rupp Arena. That primetime Saturday night affair will feature the return of UK’s iconic denim-themed jerseys from the 1995-96 season.
Nate Ament is one of several high school recruiting misses for Kentucky, Pope
With plenty of attention still focused on Kentucky’s lack of committed recruits from this year’s high school class, it’s worth circling back to UK’s pursuit of Ament last year.
While Pope’s first true high school recruiting class at Kentucky produced a pair of top-25 prospects in freshmen guard Jasper Johnson and center Malachi Moreno, the Wildcats swung and missed on several top recruits in 2025. At the top of that list was Ament, who actually was on hand for both of UK’s wins over Tennessee last season.
Ament was on a visit to Tennessee in January 2025 when a shorthanded Kentucky team won in Knoxville. Then, Ament was on an official visit to Kentucky this past February to watch another Wildcat win over the Vols.
Kentucky shifted much of its recruiting attention to Ament last year after Wilson spurned the Wildcats for UNC. Pope’s relationship with Ament predated his time as the Kentucky coach. When Pope and UK assistant Cody Fueger were coaching together at BYU, they also recruited Ament to the Cougars.
Ament made his college commitment last April, after the bulk of Kentucky’s roster for this season was already in place. At the time of that commitment, Kentucky had already received transfer portal commitments from forwards Mo Dioubate and Quaintance and wing Kam Williams.
Kentucky is still without a commitment from any member of the 2026 recruiting class, despite previously being viewed as the top option for elite prospects small forward Tyran Stokes and power forward Christian Collins. The Wildcats are also still recruiting guard Jordan Smith and small forward Caleb Holt from the high school ranks. All of these players are five-star recruits.
Georgia and UK are the only two SEC schools without a class of 2026 commit.
