Nate Ament has declared for the NBA Draft, according to a post from his Instagram account. The 6-10 wing is coming off of an outstanding freshman season with Tennessee, showing everyone why he was a top five overall prospect in last year’s recruiting class.
“I want to dedicate this post to my Vol family,” Ament said. “Your guys love and support is a huge reason I have this opportunity. It’s because of you guys that I was
able to grow. Y’all stuck with me through the bad games and the good. I promise to always represent the Vols with the utmost pride. This University means more to me than just basketball — to me it’s a place I call home. I might’ve only been here a year but I’ll remember this year for the rest of my life.”
Ament averaged 16.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists as a true freshman. He averaged nearly 30 minutes per game.
It was a slow start for Ament, but once he found it, he was among the best in the nation. Ament became Tennessee’s finisher late in the year, getting to the rim at will and salting games away at the free throw line. An ankle injury late in the year slowed him down, but the flashes of brilliance were certainly there.
Ament has been projected as a first-round selection in this year’s NBA Draft, but where he lands has been a bit all over the place. You don’t find many ball-handlers that check in with 6-10 length, but still yet, Ament’s stock has been down for much of the season after the slow start. He’s been mocked as low as No. 18 overall, and as high as No. 8 overall.
There was plenty of chatter that Ament could return to Knoxville for another season, but his message on Instagram certainly reads like a goodbye. Players can still return after declaring, but based on his wording, it doesn’t seem like that’s in the cards.
“You go through the process, gather all the information you can,” Rick Barnes said earlier today. “He will do that and he’s going to make the right decision. But personally I think I already know what the decision is because I know how good a basketball player he is. But only the good Lord knows for certain. But again, you go through the process and that’s what he’s doing. He’s doing it. His agency, they’re doing their deal and they’re going to get all the facts they need, and they’ll go from there.”
It seems like that decision has been made. For Tennessee, all eyes now turn to Juke Harris, who is also going to go through the NBA Draft process while remaining in the transfer portal.
