2025 National High School Player of the Year Finalist Nate Ament is down to five schools and will decide on April 1. Ament announced recently that he is down to Arkansas, Duke, Kentucky, Louisville, and Tennessee. According to Zach Geoghegan of On3, Ament will announce his decision on April 1 at the 2025 McDonald’s All-American Game at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn (NY).
Ament is the top-rated uncommitted 2025 prospect and the consensus No. 4 recruit in the nation. While announcing his finalists, Ament, who holds over 35 scholarship offers, revealed why he is turning his attention to the five schools.
“I’ve got a group of schools that I want to focus in on and put my attention towards for the remaining of the recruiting season,” said Ament via Swish Culture video. “Those schools are Arkansas, Duke, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Louisville. Those are my top five, and the schools consistently recruit me.” These are the schools that I could see myself playing at and that I want to give all of my attention towards.”
2025 Naismith POY Candidate to Announce College Decision at McDonald’s All-American Game
Ament is a smooth and skilled scorer who needs to add strength to his 185-pound elastic frame. He is averaging 18.1 points, 9.1 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game while helping Warrenton Highland (37-5) to the 2025 VISAA State Semifinals. He has also posted a shooting slash line of 49.2/32.8/86.2.
Ament is a relatively late bloomer, though his talent is evident. The athletic Ament has good positional size and moves well. He also possesses outstanding hands, is a solid rebounder, and has a natural soft touch around the rim.
At this point, Ament’s biggest weakness is more related to his physical limitations. He has a 6-11 wingspan and is not very powerful or exceptionally explosive. Besides adding strength, Ament must also improve as a finisher through contact.
“A relative unknown 18 months ago, Ament has grown significantly, filled out his frame, and become a devastating matchup at 6-foot-11 with an exceptionally high skill level,” ESPN’s Jonathan Givony said about Ament who he listed as the No. 4 NBA Prospect in 2026. “His tremendous shot-making prowess, intriguing passing and defensive versatility, and ability to get his shot off almost whenever he pleases give him perhaps the highest upside of any prospect in this class.
Ament’s Five Finalist
The following is a look at Ament’s finalist and his thoughts on each program, per Eric Bossi of 247 Sports (unless otherwise indicated). Ament has visited all five schools.
Kentucky Wildcats
Kentucky made Ament’s top-5 despite being late to the party. Ament completed an official trip to Kentucky a few weeks ago, where he attended the Wildcats’ victory over Tennesee in the middle of the month. A couple of days following Ament’s trip to Lexington, coach Mark Pope made the trek up to Virginia to watch Ament play.
“Kentucky, I actually just came back from a visit from there, but again, Coach Pope, high-character coach,” Ament said on The Youngins Sports Podcast with Jordan Richard. “Not just talking about Xs and Os, but as a person, he’s a high-character guy. That’s something you like to see as a player. But also, his offense is one of the best in the nation.”
Kentucky projects to lose at least seven players after this season. Pope has already signed three freshmen as part of his upcoming recruiting class — Malachi Moreno, Jasper Johnson, and Acaden Lewis.
Louisville Cardinals
Louisville is having a resurgence under first-year head coach Pat Kelsey. The Cardinals (22-6) have reached the 20-victory plateau for the first time in five seasons.
Louisville offered Ament last August. He took an official visit to Louisville in October.
“They’ve also been very consistent,” Ament said. “I love Coach Kelsey’s enthusiasm and Coach [Thomas] Carr. They have a great relationship with me and my whole family.”
Kelsey will have to hit the transfer portal and recruiting trail again this summer, as the Cardinals have nine seniors on the roster. The Cardinals have signed 2025 five-star point guard Mikel Brown Jr. and received a hard commitment from German Sananda Fru earlier this month.
Arkansas Razorbacks
Arkansas spent a ton of money on John Calipari last spring. While the Razorbacks have been inconsistent this year, they remain in the hunt for an NCAA tournament bid.
“Coach Cal and pretty much the whole coaching staff has been….,” Ament said. “I mean, they started a bit later than other schools, but they’ve been putting me through the fire,” Ament said. “They’ve been coming to a lot of my practices and a lot of my games. Even some of the recruits have been texting me.”
“Obviously, Coach Cal has produced a lot of NBA level talent and beginning as a basketball player seeing him at Kentucky is kind of a dream for a lot players to see all these NBA players playing on one team.”
Arkansas has just two seniors on the 2024-25 roster, but it is likely that Calipari will overhaul it. Calipari already has three players in his 2025 recruiting class: Darius Acuff Jr., Meleek Thomas, and Isaiah Seely.
Duke Blue Devils
Jon Scheyer has proved to be an excellent replacement for Mike Krzyzewski for Duke. Scheyer owns a .790 winning through his first 100 games and has done a fantastic job on the recruiting trail. His previous recruiting classes have been ranked No. 1 or 2 nationwide.
Duke has been among the teams that have been “on” Ament the longest. Ament has made two trips to Durham with the Blue Devils, including an official visit on February 1.
“They’ve probably been recruiting me the longest of the five,” Ament said about the Blue Devils. “It’s great to see that they are winning with freshmen players. They are one of the top teams in the nation not only offensively but defensively.”
Scheyer is already compiling another fantastic recruiting class in 2o25. The Blue Devils have signed four players in the class: Cameron Boozer, Shelton Henderson, Nikolas Khemenia, and Cayden Boozer.
Tennessee Volunteers
Rick Barnes has returned Tennessee to a consistent NCAA Tournament team. Under Barnes, the Volunteers are 225-106 with six Tournament bids. Ament took his official to Knoxville on October 19.
“I’ve been down there twice now. Rick Barnes, you know, he coached (Kevin Durant). Still, he’s another high-character guy, and all of these coaches are, but seeing how he pushed KD to be the player he is today and put him in positions where he had to be that player is very enticing.”
Tennessee will have to replace at least 80% of its starting lineup after this year. The Volunteers have signed two incoming freshmen, Amari Evans and DeWayne Brown II.
Where Will Ament Land?
Duke and Louisville have been pursuing Ament the hardest. However, it sounds like Tennessee is the only program not to like a legitimate threat. Here is what On3’s Joe Tipton said regarding Ament’s recruiting situation:
“As I wrote a couple of weeks ago, it sounds like Louisville and Duke are the two schools that have positioned themselves the best to this point. Both Pat Kelsey and Jon Scheyer are all in on Ament. I would still likely give Louisville the edge, but this is a close race. There is no runway favorite at the current time.
Something to note: Kentucky remains within striking distance. Mark Pope and the Wildcats have turned all their focus to Ament and are a real contender. I am not counting them out.
The one other school that I am watching — Arkansas. John Calipari’s resume speaks for itself.”
Photo Courtesy of © Marc Vasconcellos/The Enterprise
