Nate Ament pushing back commitment date as Malachi Moreno pitches Kentucky to 5-star wing

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Five-Star Plus+ SF Nate Ament (photo credit - Commonwealth Basketball Group) / Great Crossing center Malachi Moreno | Bryce Stevenson

Five-star high school recruit Nate Ament is pushing back his college decision.

Ament announced Monday during his McDonald’s All-American Game media session he will not commit to a college on Tuesday, April 1. He did not provide a timeline for when a decision could happen.

“I’m going to push it back. I’m not going to do it tomorrow, on Tuesday,” Ament, who is in New York City for this week’s MCDAAG, told reporters.

Ament is down to just five finalists ahead of a commitment. The 6-foot-9 wing is considering Kentucky, Arkansas, Tennessee, Louisville, and Duke. Ament is ranked as the No. 4 overall prospect in the class of 2025 and is the highest-ranked uncommitted player left in his cycle. He took an official visit to UK in February with Wildcats head coach Mark Pope quickly following that up with an in-person visit.

Pope currently has three high school commits locked in for the 2025-26 season: Jasper Johnson (No. 19), Acaden Lewis (No. 32), and Malachi Moreno (No. 28). That trio ranks as the fifth-best class in the country. Ament and Moreno are two of 24 boys players named to this year’s McDonald’s All-American Game, which is set for Tuesday night (9:00 p.m. ET on ESPN) at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY.

Sitting next to each other at the podium during Monday’s interview session, Moreno was asked about his recruiting pitch to Ament. Moreno was late to arrive in New York this week as he was leading Great Crossing to a state championship victory in Rupp Arena over the weekend.

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“My pitch has been just, you see what Kentucky has. They have legends. They have a crazy fanbase,” Moreno said. “An amazing coach, an amazing coaching staff. Awesome facilities. It’s a great place to be. It’s really basketball-focused and it’s a real, true place where you can grow and you can reach your dreams.”

Ament added that he’s looking for two main things right now with his recruitment. One is a coach who can teach him how to play the game the right way, and two is to join a “great recruiting class” with players he wants to play alongside and players who want to play alongside him.

Will he find that in Lexington? We’ll have to wait a bit longer to find out, but Moreno will at least get in one final pitch before that time comes.