Fans go ruthless as highly-rated talent Nate Ament commits to Tennessee Vols: "Really wants to lose to Kentucky"

Modified Apr 21, 2025 04:03 GMT

Five-star power forward prospect Nate Ament committed to Tennessee on Sunday (Image Source: IMAGN)

Highly-rated high school prospect Nate Ament announced his commitment to play for Tennessee on Sunday, giving the Volunteers their first five-star recruit since 2022.

The 6-foot-9 power forward ranked fourth in ESPN's recruitment rankings and was the last five-star recruit to commit to a Division 1 program. Tennessee beat prestigious programs Illinois, Duke, Arkansas, Kentucky, Creighton, Louisville and UConn for Ament's commitment.

The development triggered mixed reactions from fans. One user felt that Ament wants to lose to perennial SEC rival Kentucky.

"Bro really wants to lose to Kentucky I guess."

Nate Ament fan reaction (Image Source: (@recruitsnews/Instagram)

Some thought that getting Ament's commitment alone wouldn't be enough to move the Volunteers past the Elite Eight.

Nate Ament fan reactions (Image Source: @recruitsnews/Instagram)

Other fans were happy to welcome Nate Ament to Tennessee and move past the Elite Eight next season.

Aside from being the fourth-best high school recruit in the composite rankings, Nate Ament is the No. 2-ranked power forward and the top player in Virginia.

Choosing Rick Barnes' Tennessee teams him up with fellow high school prospects Amari Evans, Dwayne Brown, and Troy Henderson. They also acquired Maryland's Ja'Kobi Gillespie and Vanderbilt's Jaylen Carey from the transfer portal.

Tennessee hopes its first Final Four entry would come in 2025-26 season

Tennessee has had recent success in NCAA Tournaments, reaching March Madness seven successive times in 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025. However, the Volunteers haven't gotten past the Final Four, with the best having three Elite Eight stints in 2010, 202,4 and 2025.

Last season, the Rick Barnes-coached team played well in the regular season and the SEC Tournament, going 27-7 to claim the No. 2 seed in the Midwest Regionals. They beat Wofford (77-62), UCLA (67-58), and Kentucky (78-65) in the first three rounds to arrange an Elite Eight clash with Houston.

Unfortunately, Tennessee lost to No. 1 seed Houston in the Elite Eight 69-50 to fall short of reaching the Final Four for the second consecutive year.

The Volunteers hope the next season will be the right opportunity to enter the Final Four. With their latest acquisitions in the transfer portal and high school recruitment, the team seems to be heading in the right direction.

What can you say about Tennessee's new acquisition Nate Ament? Let us know your insights in the comments section.

About the author

Geoffrey Latayan is a journalist who covers college basketball at Sportskeeda. An AB Communication graduate from De La Salle Lipa, he is an avid sports fan who follows college basketball, MLB, NBA and pro wrestling.

As a writer, he's adept at stats and previously covered college sports in the Philippines. Geoff has interviewed former NBA star Detlef Schrempf, although it was way before the "sportsblog" era.

Geoff believes the gap between College sports and major leagues has narrowed thanks to the new stars of the sport, who can give the pro leagues a run for their money.

His favorite college players of all time are Michael Jordan and Allan Iverson. In fact, the Jordan admiration extended to North Carolina becoming his favorite college team as well. Geoff rates Carmelo Anthony winning the national title for Syracuse as his favorite College Sports moment and he is also a die-hard Philadelphia Phillies and Philadelphia 76ers fan.

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Edited by Geoff