Nate Ament reveals what drew him most to Tennessee

Tennessee and head coach Rick Barnes struck big on the recruiting trail last offseason when it hauled in five-star forward Nate Ament. Ament is ranked the No. 4 player in the Class of 2025 and is expected to be one of the best freshman in the country this season for the Volunteers.

With two months still remaining before the start of the 2025-26 college basketball season, ESPN has projected Ament as the No. 4 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. If he were to go No. 4 or higher, it would make him the highest drafted Tennessee player in the history of the program.

Ament spoke to the media on Wednesday, where he discussed what drew him to the program.

“Initially it was coach (Rick) Barnes and all of the coaching staff,” Ament said. “I just have such a good rapport with all of them. Like you guys say coach Justin (Gainey) before that joking around and everything. Having that throughout the whole recruiting process has been very special and knowing that coach Barnes is the person he is to push me everyday to be the best player you wanna be. Me knowing I have so much untapped potential and room to grow, I knew he could get the best out of me.”

Household names in the sport such as Kentucky, Duke, North Carolina and Kansas all vied hard for the Highland (Manassas, VA) prospect, but he decided to enjoy his college experience in Knoxville.

On3’s James Fletcher talks Ament/Tennessee pairing

“His college choice was really interesting to me. I thought that, going to Tennessee, I almost became, like, more intrigued in what he could be,” said On3’s James Fletcher in July. “You look at that frame and that’s, like you said, it’s so thin and you think, like, okay, if he can fill out then he can become something great. Well, you go to Tennessee and, maybe he’s not going to fill out during his year at Tennessee but he’s going to learn all those defensive traits, all those intangibles, that dog mentality that you need once you add the muscle.”

“I mean, you’re going to sink or swim there. We’re going to find out if he can bang down low, if he can, you know, take on bruises when he’s playing in that Rick Barnes defense. I really like that for him being able to raise his floor long-term, I think, by being around somebody who’s going to ingrain defense into his game in addition to all the offense that we know he’s going to be able to bring.”

College basketball fans will get their first look at Ament in action in Tennessee‘s highly anticipated preseason scrimmage against Duke on Oct. 26.