Tennessee basketball’s Nate Ament was one of 10 players to land on the midseason Julius Irving Award Watch List Wednesday. The award is given annually to the best small forward in college basketball. It’s one of a number of honors Ament has earned this season including as one of 25 players on the midseason Wooden Award Watch List and a four-time SEC Freshman of the Week.
Ament is one of three SEC players on the list along with Florida’s Thomas Haugh and Texas Dailyn Swain. The other players on the list include USC’s Chad Baker-Mazara, Michigan State’s Coen Carr, Louisville’s Ryan Conwell, BYU’s AJ Dybantsa, Iowa State’s Milan Momcilovic, Illinois’ Andrej Stojakovic and Baylor’s Tounde Yessoufou.
Over the course of the season, Ament is averaging 17.1 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. He’s getting better-and-better as the year goes on and is averaging 19.6 points on 45% shooting from the field and 36% shooting from three-point range to go along with 5.7 rebounds per game.
The five-star freshman has been on a tear as of late, leading Tennessee to four straight wins ahead of Saturday’s rematch against Kentucky at Rupp Arena. Veteran head coach Rick Barnes points to Tennessee’s loss at Florida as being the turning point for Ament this season.
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“I think the biggest thing is he settled in really prior to going to Florida, where you could tell he was pressing and maybe a little bit disappointed,” Barnes said. “And I told him prior to that game, ‘You’ve got nothing to be disappointed about. You’re trending in the right direction. Just play one play at a time and get on to the next one.’ And since that game, Florida, he is just a totally different person mentally, the way he’s approached the game and sees it.”
Since the Florida game, Ament is averaging 22.1 points and five rebounds per game. His emergence is giving Tennessee one of the SEC’s best one-two punches and taking some pressure off Ja’Kobi Gillespie.
Ament went for 29 points and seven rebounds in Tennessee’s win at Alabama. He’s followed it up with some clutch second half performances including against Ole Miss Tuesday night when he scored 26 of his game-high 28 points in the final 20 minutes.
“That’s kind of been my mindset,” Ament said following the game. “I had a rough first half so I just have to focus on what I can do to help this team win. It’s kind of been helping me grow, just mature as a young man.”
Former Tennessee star Dalton Knecht won the Julius Irving Award during the 2023-24 season, becoming the first Volunteer player to ever win the award.
Ament will look to bolster his case Saturday night when Tennessee travels to Lexington to face rival Kentucky. Tipoff from Rupp Arena is at 8:30 p.m. ET. ESPN is broadcasting the game.
