Kentucky basketball is recruiting elite power forward Nate Ament. What are UK’s chances?
As Mark Pope attempts to navigate an ongoing, tricky injury situation for his first Kentucky basketball team, he’s also trying to put his best foot forward in a competitive recruiting race for one of the nation’s top high school seniors. Recent weeks have seen UK assert itself — in a big way — in the recruiting picture for Nate Ament, a 6-foot-9 power forward in the 2025 high school recruiting class. Ament is ranked by the 247Sports Composite as a five-star prospect and as the No. 4 national recruit in the 2025 class. Ament, who plays high school basketball in Virginia, is the highest-rated prospect who is yet to commit to a school. “Ament is one of the most versatile players in this class, combining his exceptional movement skills for his size with genuine feel, skill and motor on both ends. … With his physical skills, feel, and growth curve, he’s on track to be one of the best prospects in this class,” Zach Welch, an analyst for Pro Insight Basketball, told the Herald-Leader. Pope took an early liking to Ament as a prospect, even before he became the head coach at Kentucky last
April. Ament has said that both Pope and UK assistant coach Cody Fueger recruited him when the duo were together at BYU. That process continued in Lexington, with Pope extending a Kentucky scholarship offer to Ament in June. Since then, there have been plenty of ebbs and flows in Ament’s recruitment. Currently, Ament is working with a top-11 list of schools, which includes the Wildcats. Ament’s recruitment is down to the following programs: Alabama, Arkansas, BYU, Duke, Georgetown, Kansas State, Kentucky, Louisville, Notre Dame, Tennessee and Texas. Not all of these schools are on equal footing, though. Recent reporting from recruiting insiders suggests that Ament — who was named a 2025 McDonald’s All-American last month — is especially considering
Arkansas, Duke, Kentucky, Louisville, Notre Dame and Tennessee for his college choice. That Kentucky finds itself among these select schools vying for Ament’s commitment is a tale in and of itself. For a while, there wasn’t much activity with Pope’s 2025 recruiting class at Kentucky. In November during the early signing period, three players — left-handed guards Jasper Johnson and Acaden Lewis and All-American center Malachi Moreno — signed to play at UK next season. Since then, the biggest development on the recruiting front for UK in 2025 was the Wildcats’ failure to land five-star power forward Caleb Wilson. At one time considered a Kentucky lean, Wilson — who is also a 2025 Burger Boy — committed to North Carolina over UK in January. “Obviously Caleb
Wilson was the priority, but you know, Ament was there as well,” David Sisk — a Rivals basketball recruiting analyst who covers Kentucky and North Carolina — told the Herald-Leader. “Now there’s no doubt, I think (UK’s recruitment of Ament) got picked up a little bit after Caleb Wilson’s decision. In fact, it was pretty immediate.” In just a matter of weeks, UK has made up a lot of ground in Ament’s recruitment. Ament has had multiple in-person, up-close interactions with the Wildcats of late. First, Ament was on a visit to Tennessee on Jan. 28 when a shorthanded Kentucky squad went to Knoxville and won. Then, Ament was on an official visit to Kentucky last Tuesday night and watched another shorthanded win by UK over Tennessee. Postgame, Pope even made a
reference to hosting Ament for that visit. Just a few days later, Pope went to Virginia to watch Ament play on his senior night at the Highland School. Despite playing from behind, Kentucky is now viewed as a real player in Ament’s recruitment. “There’s nobody else really that they’re hot and heavy on in the ‘25 class. So it’s not like they’re biding their time between four or five guys,” Sisk said.
