Nate Ament answered one of the biggest questions of Tennessee basketball’s offseason Thursday when he officially declared for the NBA Draft.
Volquest’s Mike Wilson reported that Ament declared while retaining his college eligibility, so Ament could still technically return to school if he decides to before May 23. But all signs point to Ament staying in the draft and foregoing the remainder of his college eligibility.
What does Ament’s departure mean for Tennessee basketball?
Let’s start with the numbers game. The Vols quickly added another transfer commit on Friday when Kennesaw State forward Braedan Lue committed to Tennessee over UAB and Memphis.
With six incoming transfers, four incoming prep prospects and two returning players, Tennessee now has 12 scholarship players on its roster for next season. The Vols have three more scholarships to work with on their roster though they could opt not to use all 15 scholarships instead awarding one to a walk on. Tennessee did that with two players last season after landing just 13 traditional scholarship player.
How could Tennessee use its remaining scholarships? All eyes now turn to star Wake Forest transfer guard Juke Harris. The Vols have been in hot pursuit of Harris for multiple weeks. Ament’s decision just takes away any other option for Tennessee to add a star off-ball guard to its roster for next season.
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Harris is coming off a sophomore season where he averaged 21.4 points on 44.4% shooting from the field and 33.3% shooting from three-point range. He made 87 three-pointers during the 2025-26 season on his way to earning Second Team All-ACC honors.
The 6-foot-7 guard is down to a top three of Michigan, North Carolina and Tennessee with the Wolverines appearing to be Tennessee’s top competition. Harris took an official visit to Michigan a few weeks ago and has had an in-home visit with both Tennessee and North Carolina.
Harris is currently in California as he goes through the NBA Draft process. Projected to be a borderline first round pick, it’s unclear when Harris could make a commitment.
Beyond Harris, Tennessee could still look to add another big man to its roster. The Vols currently have DeWayne Brown, Loyola (Chicago) transfer Miles Rubin and Kennesaw State transfer Braedan Rubin as true big men on their roster for next season.
Notre Dame transfer Jalen Haralson and four-star prep signee Chris Washington Jr are capable of playing the four-spot but are not traditional rim protecting bigs.
I don’t expect Tennessee to go after any big name transfer big men but do think they’ll look to add at least one more big body to its roster for next season.
