What Rick Barnes said about Nate Ament's NBA Draft decision

Rick Barnes expects Nate Ament to go through the NBA Draft process after his freshman season with Tennessee basketball.

The Vols coach said Thursday said “there’s nothing to talk about” with Ament in regards to a decision because Barnes believes it is obvious.

“The fact of the matter is I don’t see how he can’t go to the NBA because I think he’s one of the top players in the country,” Barnes said.

The 6-foot-10 guard averaged 16.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists for the Vols. Ament has yet to announce a decision on entering the NBA Draft. The deadline for early entrants is midnight ET Friday. Ament is widely projected as a first-round pick.

“You go through the process, gather all the information you can,” Barnes said. “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.”

Ament had 11 games with at least 20-points as a freshman, including three with a season-high 29. All three were in the 10 games before his injury against Alabama on Feb. 28.

“Nate is so special,” Barnes said. “Obviously, we love him to death. I just think that honestly when he goes through this process that any and every team he sits down in front of they’re going to see the same things that we see. There’s so much more to him than what you see on the court basketball-wise. Right now, there’s no ceiling for him. He just really hasn’t even scratched the surface.”

Ament battled through right leg injuries late in the season, including a high ankle sprain that limited him in the final month.

He suffered the injury scrambling for a loose ball and it affected him for the rest of the season. He missed the following two games and returned for the SEC Tournament. He had one of his best games with the Vols, scoring 27 points after a second-half scoring flurry in a tournament-opening win against Auburn.

Tennessee has had a player picked in five straight NBA Drafts, the longest streak since the draft went to two rounds in 1989. UT has had seven players picked in that window. It has had 10 players picked under Barnes.

Ament is the highest-ranked recruit to sign with Tennessee in the recruiting rankings era. The five-star prospect was the No. 4 prospect in the Rivals Industry Rating. He picked Tennessee over Arkansas, Duke, Kentucky and Louisville.

He is the seventh five-star prospect to commit to Tennessee under Barnes and the first since the 2022 class.

Ament played at Highland School in Warrenton, Virginia.