Lucas Panzica talks about the commitment that Tennessee basketball got over the weekend, from 5-star PF Nate Ament.
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00:00Tennessee basketball picked up a huge commitment over the weekend in what was one of the biggest moments in the history of the men's basketball program.
00:11Hey, Lucas Panzeca here from 104.5 The Zone and A to Z Sports.
00:16Vols fans got good news over the weekend.
00:18On Sunday, five-star power forward Nate Ament pledged his commitment to Rick Barnes and the Tennessee Vols for the upcoming 2025-26 basketball season.
00:28Projected to be a one-and-done player and a lottery pick in the 2026 NBA draft, this is without question the biggest recruiting win for Rick Barnes in his Tennessee tenure and arguably the biggest recruiting win in Tennessee men's basketball history, period.
00:45But before we get to that, let's learn about the prospect.
00:47Nate Ament, 6'9", 185 pounds, coming from Warrington, Virginia.
00:52He is rated by 247 Sports as the number four player in the country, the number two power forward in the country, and the number one overall player to come out of the state of Virginia.
01:03Now, Rick Barnes obviously has the resume.
01:06Part of that resume is recruiting and coaching Kevin Durant as a one-and-done player at Texas who went on, obviously, to be a future NBA Hall of Famer.
01:14Rick Barnes has used Kevin Durant to his advantage in recruiting, whether out of high school or in the transfer portal, time after time in his career.
01:23It happened with Dalton Connect when he came over from northern Colorado.
01:26But in this instance, I think Rick Barnes was most able to use that KD mark on his resume to his advantage because there is no player that Tennessee has acquired that most symbolizes or most resembles Kevin Durant's game like Nate Ament.
01:42You're talking about a 6'9", power forward that can step out onto the wing, that can shoot the three, that can play anywhere on the floor, and again, is projected to be a top-five pick in the 2026 NBA draft.
01:55And Ament said as much in his statement committing to Tennessee, talking about that Rick Barnes connection with Kevin Durant and what Rick Barnes can do to get him to the league.
02:04And he said Rick Barnes sees him as a one-and-done player that is exactly the type of player that Nate Ament can be, lifting Tennessee basketball for one season and then going on to be a top-five pick in the NBA draft.
02:17Now, 24-7 Sports puts Ament down as the highest-rated recruit in Tennessee basketball history, beating out the likes of Tobias Harris, the likes of Kennedy Chandler.
02:27And it's interesting that Rick Barnes is dipping back into the well of the five-star one-and-done player.
02:34He did it for a few years, churning through Kennedy Chandler, Keon Johnson, Jaden Springer.
02:39None of those Tennessee teams made deep runs in the tournament.
02:42Tennessee did win the SEC tournament with Kennedy Chandler as its point guard.
02:46But this is the first time that Rick Barnes has really found a player of Nate Ament's caliber to come out of the high school ranks and join the Vols program.
02:55So when you look at the state of this roster as it currently stands, the frontcourt is as deep as it has been in the Barnes era.
03:01You return Cade Phillips, Felix Okpara, J.P. Estrella back from injury, and you added Jalen Carey, the Vanderbilt transfer, and then, of course, you add power forward Nate Ament, who can be a star at the college basketball level next season before going to the NBA.
03:17Of course, Tennessee got a big win right out of the gates in the portal with the Maryland transfer point guard Jacoby Gillespie.
03:23If Tennessee can secure a commitment from Gillespie's Maryland teammate and shooting guard Rodney Rice,
03:29you feel really good about how this starting lineup is shaping up for the next season as Tennessee looks to make a Final Four push again next year,
03:37despite losing as much production and leadership as it did in the last season.
03:43Rick Barnes is reloading, and he's doing it with the biggest recruiting win of his Tennessee career.
03:47Nate Ament pledges to the Vols, and it's huge news for the ceiling of this basketball team next season.