Evaluating Freshman Impact: Tennessee's Nate Ament

Nate Ament became the highest-rated commitment in the history of Tennessee when he chose the Volunteers back in April. Now, with him bringing his skill set to Knoxville, there’s a lot to like about what he could be as a freshman star on Rocky Top.

On3 Insider Jamie Shaw, in a conversation about incoming freshman last week with On3’s James Fletcher, evaluated what has led to Ament becoming one of the top prospects coming into college basketball next season. He said it’s mostly to do with the versatility, namely in passing and also as a defender, he has shown in his game in trending to become among the best players in his class.

“What initially, two years ago, three years ago, whenever it was we first put him in the Top-10, that opened my eyes with Ament was his passing ability. He’s an unbelievable passer. He was primarily on the ball when he was at Colgan High School before he transferred to Highland School. And then, at Highland School, his game just took off,” said Shaw. “But he’s primarily an on the ball guy. Ament can play in the pick-and-roll and make every pass and read that you need. Reading the second defender, whether it be finishing at the rim or passing away from the defense. Left hand, you know, off live dribble, right hand, all that type of stuff. He was just able to make the reads and execute.”

“At Highland School, his game just kind of took off. I mean, it was an unbelievable trajectory he went on of just being dominant…Again, kind of like (AJ) Dybantsa, there’s a lot of pathways that he’s able to go down, you know, when it comes to the value that he brings,” Shaw continued. “He’s a competitor. He wants every bit of smoke that’s available. He wants all the top guys, all the top matchups. He is an instinctive defender. He’s able to slide his feet. He’s got timing on shot blocks. And he rebounds, he rebounds his area very well, very strongly.”

Ament, named as a McDonald’s All-American, Gatorade Virginia Player of the Year, and who played in the Jordan Brand Classic, averaged 19.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, and 2.2 assists as a senior this past season at Highlands. That had him finish rated as the No. 4 recruit and a Five-Star+ prospect coming out in 2025 according to Rivals’ Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He would then go on to commit to Tennessee this spring over Arkansas, Duke, Kentucky, and Louisville.

As Ament comes into college, though, size is one of the lone cons when it comes to his evaluation. He has the height at 6’9, which only adds to the versatile play, but Shaw wants to see how much weight he can add onto that frame this summer and as a freshman with him currently listed at 190 pounds.

“The thing with Ament? His jump shot can get a little elongated. And he’s very thin. So, that’s going to be kind of the question mark, as to the thin nature,” said Shaw. “You know, obviously, people get paid hundreds of thousands of dollars at the highest level to put weight on people and appropriate, you know, what they’re doing and stuff. So, can he add the adequate amount of weight? But, the skill set, the skill base that he has, you know, is almost like a guard at 6’9. We’ll see if he’s listed at 6’10. We’ll see what he’s listed at this season. But the skill base that he has is almost as a guard, as an initiator, somebody that elevates the floor of those around him.”

However, to Fletcher, if size is the biggest concern, Ament couldn’t have landed in a much better spot than Tennessee. He expects him to add the weight while there while adding more to his game, specifically on the defensive end.

“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 Fletcher. “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,” Fletcher said. “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.”

Shaw agreed, continuing on to explain what he likes about what Ament in what he’ll be able to do offensively for them. That’s especially so with the expectation being that he’ll be playing either forward spot, including more so at the three potentially, for the Vols.

“It’s going to be very interesting too, because Rick Barnes’ offense plays at kind of a methodical pace to get kind of the best shot possible – not the first shot but the best shot type of situation. So it’ll be interesting to see how his percentages look when he’s able to, like – this is the shot you want, now can you make it as opposed to, you know, having a lot of shots, having the depth of shots,” said Shaw. “You’ll get the best shots. You’re going to get nine to eleven plays run for you. And, what are you going to do with those? So, the efficiency aspect of his game will be interesting to see how that kind of plays a factor into it.”

“It sounds like he’s going to be able to play a lot of three this year as well,” Shaw added. “You know, kind of talking with and around the staff, they’re targeting him as the starting three. So he’s going to be able to toggle in between the three and four, kind of enhancing his game and profile to see how he best fits when it comes to switchability on defense and when it comes to initiating some offense.”

Ament has taken step after step to improve his standing in his recruiting cycle and, with that, as a projected lottery pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. Still, that’s to come after what he does as a do-it-all freshman forward this next year at Tennessee.