BetOnline sets Wooden Award odds for Tennessee's Nate Ament, Ja'Kobi Gillespie

BetOnline has Tennessee point guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie at 33/1 odds to win the Wooden Award this season, just ahead of his teammate, freshman wing Nate Ament, at 50/1.
The Wooden Award is given annually to college basketball’s best player. The BetOnline favorite is Purdue guard Braden Smith at 5/1, ahead of Texas Tech’s JT Toppin at 15/2 and Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg at 9/1. The full list can be seen here.
Gillepsie is tied with five other players for the 12th-best odds at 33/1. The other five are UConn’s Alex Karaban, St. John’s Bryce Hopkins, Houston’s Emmanuel Sharp, BYU’s Richie Saunders and Auburn’s Tahaad Pettiford.
Ament is one of three players at 50/1 odds, along with Alabama’s Aden Holloway and Duke’s Isaiah Evans.
Ament committed to Tennessee on April 20, picking the Vols over Kentucky, Duke, Arkansas and Louisville.
He 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 signed, alongside Tobias Harris and Allan Houston.
Nate Ament ranked No. 2 overall in 2025 On3 recruiting rankings
Ament was a Five-Star+ prospect in the On3 Industry Ranking, ranked No. 4 nationally, No. 2 at small forward and No. 1 in the state of Virginia, out of Manassas. He was the No. 2 overall prospect in the On3 rankings.
He is Tennessee’s 13th McDonald’s All-American in program history, the seventh five-star prospect signed during the Barnes era and is already projected as a top-five pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.
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He’s one of four players in the early running to be the No. 1 overall pick, according to ESPN.
“Ament is a late addition to the No. 1 pick conversation and the furthest away of the four from reaching his potential,” ESPN’s Jonathan Givony wrote, “in no small part because he weighs 186 pounds. But ultra-talented wing players with his fluidity, shotmaking prowess, defensive versatility and scoring ability are often deemed franchise-type prospects.”
Ja’Kobi Gillespie replaces Zakai Zeigler as Tennessee’s point guard
Gillespie started all 36 games at Maryland last season, averaging 14.7 points and 4.8 assists in 31.6 minutes per game while shooting 45.3% from the floor and 40.7% from the 3-point line, where he made 87 of 214 attempts.
The Vols were considered a frontrunner after Gillespie entered the NCAA Transfer Portal on March 31. He received interest from Kentucky, North Carolina, Maryland and Villanova, among others. Gillespie entered the NCAA Transfer Portal after former Maryland coach Kevin Willard left for Villanova. Maryland hired former Texas A&M coach Buzz Williams to replace Willard.
Gillespie, the Greeneville, Tenn., native, picked his home-state school, returning to the state after playing his first two seasons of college basketball at Belmont, averaging 12.9 points, 3.7 assists, 2.8 rebounds and 1.8 steals in 26.2 minutes per game, starting 32 times in 57 games with the Bruins.
He averaged 17.2 points, 4.2 assists and 2.2 steals in 31.4 minutes per game as a sophomore in 2023-24, starting 24 times in 25 games.