Forecast as a top-five pick coming into the season, Tennessee forward Nate Ament’s middling start to his freshman season caused him to lose some steam in the upcoming hysteria over the 2026 NBA Draft, especially with other freshmen such as Illinois’s Keaton Wagler and Houston’s Kingston Flemings unexpectedly lighting up the opposition.
However, Ament had himself a week, scoring 28 in last Tuesday’s win over Ole Miss and then adding 29 in a loss to Kentucky on Saturday. That’s part of a larger trend that’s seen him emerge since mid-January; he eclipsed 20 points once in his first 16 games, but has done so in five of his last seven.
In that stretch, Ament is averaging 23.9 points per game, drawing nearly 10 free-throw attempts per game and making half of his 3s (13 of 26) after flinging bricks in the early season. He wasn’t doing this in buy games against Nobody U, either; six of the seven SEC opponents were ranked in KenPom’s top 50.
scorching nets at the moment
14 first-half points
📺 ESPN
📲 pic.twitter.com/3URb7GHCch— Tennessee Basketball (@Vol_Hoops) February 8, 2026
Ament was ranked No. 18 in Sam Vecenie’s latest top 100 prospects list, published in early January. Perhaps it’s time to update the evaluation. A 6-foot-10 freshman wing with a PER of 21.0 and 8.3 BPM in the SEC should probably attract our attention. (On Monday, he was named SEC freshman of the week for the fifth time this season)
Listed at a slender 207 pounds, Ament’s build and fluidity are strongly reminiscent of Atlanta Hawks forward Zaccharie Risacher, who went No. 1 in the 2024 draft. He’s not a freak athlete, but his ability to handle the ball and shoot makes him a natural three despite his height. As with Risacher, Ament’s ability to make 3s consistently enough to open up the rest of his game is likely a swing skill; he’s not twitchy or wiggly enough to easily beat his man off the bounce, and too often he dribbles into tough 2s. He has the size to make them over opponents, but has trouble getting into them on balance if he doesn’t have separation.
The eye test compared to November says the biggest difference may be the strength he’s added, which has allowed him to convert some tough paint finishes after taking a hit. One play in particular stood out in the Kentucky game, when he took a loose ball up from the floor through a thicket of arms for an and-1.
Questions about his feel are going to remain, however, as long as he has more turnovers than assists. (For the season, he’s averaging 2.5 assists versus 2.6 turnovers). He’s a functional passer but by no means elite, and he’s often slow to read what’s happening. He’ll also let double-teams get on top of him rather than quickly zinging an incisive pass.
Despite his size, Ament also needs to show more on the defensive end. Even with his length, he doesn’t generate a lot of deflections or block many shots. It stood out that he wasn’t on the floor for a must-stop Tennessee defensive possession at the end of the Kentucky game; he wasn’t in foul trouble either.
Nonetheless, the pendulum has perhaps swung too far to the negative on Ament and probably should swing back a little. He clearly has the basic skill archetype for a starting NBA small forward, which is arguably the most difficult position to fill. I’m not sure he can ever play himself back into the top five, given the seasons some of his fellow freshmen are having. But Ament still looks like a lottery talent.