It’s been a long time since the Tennessee Basketball program saw one of its players land a Top 10 spot in the NBA Draft. Marcus Haislip went 13th overall in 2002, Tobias Harris went 19th overall in 2011, and Dalton Knecht went 17th overall in 2024, but you’ve got to go back to 1983 to see Dale Ellis being taken with the 9th overall pick to find that Top 10 slot.
That timeline looks to be on the verge of resetting in a massive way next summer.
Tennessee boasts not just one of the top freshmen in the country this season, but perhaps one of the top players in the sport. That player is Nate Ament, the 6-foot-10 wing who, according to his teammates, can handle the rock like a six-foot guard. We haven’t seen Ament on the court for an actual game just yet, but the former five-star brings heaps of offensive versatility to the table with his perimeter shooting, his finesse carrying the basketball, and his ability to drive to the paint or involve his teammates.
He’ll still have to go out and prove it on the court. Which, obviously, is the biggest thing. But in the preseason phase? He looks to be one of the top prospects out there.
Back in July, ESPN’s Myron Medcalf and Jeff Borzello listed Ament as one of five players who could realistically compete for the NBA’s No. 1 overall draft pick, alongside BYU’s A.J. Dybantsa, Kansas’ Darryn Peterson, Duke’s Cameron Boozer, and Louisville’s Mikel Brown Jr. The duo also tagged Ament as one of the Top 10 freshmen entering the 2025-2026 season.
It’s safe to say the hype hasn’t died down since then.
Coming off of Tennessee Basketball’s Pro Day showing on Monday, NBA Draft expert Jonathan Givony gave his thoughts on the Vols’ rising star.
“The 6’10, 18-year-old wing is up 19 pounds from April, now 207 pounds,” Givony posted to X. “Has perhaps the highest upside of any prospect in this draft class.”
Givony’s words came alongside a 90-second highlight video of Ament’s work from Pro Day:
37 scouts from 29 NBA teams attended Tennessee’s Pro Day for Nate Ament and the entire @Vol_Hoops roster.
The 6’10, 18-year-old wing is up 19 pounds from April, now 207 pounds. Has perhaps the highest upside of any prospect in this draft class. pic.twitter.com/RLBWMvzE7H
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) October 7, 2025
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Givony’s statement didn’t say that Ament definitely had the highest upside. He simply just suggested the idea. But without him playing a second of college basketball action yet, we should have a good idea of Ament’s talents pretty early on based on Tennessee’s non-conference schedule.
The first look at Ament will come in a marquee preseason exhibition game against Duke in late October. The Vols will host the Blue Devils in a Power 4 showdown as both teams put the finishing touches on training camp before the regular season opens up. From there, it won’t be long before Tennessee starts seeing some more major competition.
Tennessee will see Rutgers and Houston in the Players Era Men’s Tournament in November, followed by a road game at Syracuse in the ACC/SEC Challenge in early December. The Vols will then take on Illinois in a neutral-site game from Nashville. Tennessee then hosts ACC foe Louisville in Knoxville. All five of those games, plus another Power 4 game in the Players Era, will come in a six-game stretch this fall.
Then you hit the SEC slate, which is a beast of a stretch itself. From a draft perspective, Ament will have plenty of chances to prove his talent against some of the nation’s top teams.
The hype train is rolling from a media standpoint, but Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes will do his best to keep things grounded inside the locker room as he molds the young player for the future.
Tennessee and Nate Ament will host the Duke Blue Devils in an exhibition game on Sunday, Oct. 26, in Knoxville. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2.
