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Five-star small forward Nate Ament commits to Tennessee Basketball

On3 imageby:Brent Hubbs•04/20/25•

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Nate Ament Instagram
Nate Ament Instagram

Five-star small forward Nate Ament has committed to Tennessee Basketball program. The 6-foot-9, 185-pound prospect out of Virginia announced his long-awaited decision on Sunday afternoon, picking the Vols over Duke, Louisville, Arkansas and Kentucky.

Ament is the No. 3 overall player in the 2025 class in the On3 ratings. He’s the No. 2 small forward in the country and the No. 1 overall player in the state of Virginia.

Ament is the highest-ranked prospect that Rick Barnes has added during his tenure at Tennessee and is believed to one of the highest-ranked recruits the Vols have ever received a commitment from, alongside Tobias Harris and Allan Houston. And while NIL was obviously with every school that recruited Ament, his college decision went beyond that. 

“I want to play for a coach that believes in me and is going to push me to be better than I already am,” Ament said during his recruitment. “But also will allow me to showcase my skills and teach me how to play the game the right way. Also, a great recruiting class with players I want to play with and players that want to play with me. Those two things are huge.

“Also, the culture of the school and the team. Do they have a family aspect? Do they bond well on and off the court? Those things are probably in play the biggest.”

Tennessee appeared to be a dark horse with Ament during February and March. The two sides have always communicated but it felt like the Vols were slipping in his recruitment till three weeks ago when the Vols circled back to the five-star and the highest-ranked recruit still left in the class.

Ament and his team have been very thorough about the process and Ament has been recruited heavily by signees at Duke, Louisville, Kentucky and Arkansas. Ament has had multiple conversations with Tennessee transfer Jakobi Gillespie, who signed with the Vols after leaving Maryland. 

Landing Ament answers Tennessee’s big question at small forward. Tennessee has now landed four players in the last month in Gillespie, Vanderbilt transfer Jaylen Carey and prep guard Troy Henderson. Tennessee has also signed prep players Amari Evans and Dewayne Brown in this class. 

The Vols still have work to do in the NCAA Transfer Portal, having to rebuild their entire backcourt after losing seniors in Zakai Zeigler, Chaz Lanier, Jordan Gainey, Jahmai Mashack, Igor Milicic Jr. and Darlinstone Dubar.

Barnes and his staff are looking to retool their roster and completely reassemble their backcourt after this season’s Elite Eight run. 

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