KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – University of Tennessee men’s basketball newcomer Nate Ament is a member of the Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Top 20 Preseason Watch List, as announced Wednesday afternoon by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
A 6-foot-10, 207-pound freshman from Manassas, Va., Ament is the third top-five recruit in Tennessee history, as well as the 13th McDonald’s All-American.
The annual Julius Erving Award, named after the Class of 1993 Hall of Famer and 17-year professional basketball player, celebrates its 12th year by recognizing the top small forwards in Division I men’s college basketball.
Ament is one of six freshmen on the Erving Award preseason list, alongside BYU’s A.J. Dybantsa, Houston’s Isaiah Harwell, Connecticut’s Braylon Mullins, Duke’s Dame Sarr and Baylor’s Tounde Yessoufou. He is also one of four SEC players who made the cut, joining Arkansas’ Karter Knox, Oklahoma’s Derrion Reid and Texas’ Dailyn Swain.
A Blue Ribbon Yearbook Preseason Third Team All-American and a Preseason Second Team All-SEC selection, Ament is the second Naismith Starting 5 Watch List pick for Tennessee. Senior Ja’Kobi Gillespie, a fellow Preseason Second Team All-SEC choice, was named Monday to the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Top 20 Preseason Watch List.
Unanimously considered a five-star recruit and a top-four overall prospect in the class of 2025, Ament peaked at second in the On3 national rankings. Along with playing in the 2025 McDonald’s All-American Game, he competed in the 2025 Jordan Brand Classic, 2025 Nike Hoop Summit, 2024 FIBA U18 AmeriCup (gold medal) and 2024 Summer Slam Classic (MVP).
Ament averaged 19.0 points, 10.0 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game as a senior at Highland School last year. He helped his team go 42-8 and win the VISAA Division I state title.
The Julius Erving Award Midseason Top 10 List will be announced in late January, with the finalists named in March and the winner revealed at the Final Four. Each round, including the initial preseason watch list, features fan voting at hoophallawards.com, with ballots opening Oct. 31. Additional information on the Naismith Starting 5—there is one honoree for each position—can be found at the same link.
Last season, Chaz Lanier garnered the Jerry West Award as the best shooting guard in the country and Zakai Zeigler was a finalist for the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award. The prior season, in 2023-24, Dalton Knecht took home the Julius Erving Award as the nation’s premier small forward.
To keep up with the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team on social media, follow @Vol_Hoops on Instagram and X/Twitter, as well as /tennesseebasketball on Facebook.
