On Tuesday evening, Rwandan-American Nate Ament’s NBA goals will turn out to be a actuality. The Tennessee basketball star is projected to be chosen within the prime half of the primary spherical of the 2026 NBA Draft, putting him on his group for the subsequent step in his profession.
As Ament goes by way of the method, he received a customer on the website of the draft—Brooklyn, New York. His school head coach, Rick Barnes, made the journey to see the previous Vols star and assist him on the draft. This comes after only one season at Tennessee earlier than he declared to go professional.
Barnes wasn’t alone for his journey both. He was joined by assistant coaches Gregg Polinsky, Amorrow Morgan and Steve McClain, director of basketball operations Mary-Cater Eggert, director of sports activities efficiency Garrett Medenwald, director of participant personnel/recruiting coordinator Lucas Campbell and former teammate Grant Hurst.
Barnes has been extraordinarily supportive of Ament because the recruiting course of. After touchdown the five-star expertise, he sang the praises of the two.08m wing. This wasn’t simply compliments as a participant, but additionally as an individual.
“We’re ecstatic to welcome Nate Ament and his unbelievable household to Rocky Prime,” Barnes mentioned in an announcement.
“Whereas everyone seems to be conscious of simply how particular a participant Nate is, what actually drew us to him all through the recruiting course of was the kind of individual he’s. Nate is a high-character, family-oriented younger man with an amazing, caring assist system round him who will mesh with our program from day one. He brings a dynamic talent set to the hardwood, embodying the attributes of a contemporary basketball participant.”
Ament confirmed his upside throughout the course of final season, although he did must battle by way of harm heading into the postseason. He completed with 16.7 factors per sport on 39.9% capturing from the sphere and 33.3% from vary. He additionally contributed 6.3 rebounds and a couple of.3 assists per contest.
