Let’s break down the big-name prospects that played in the state of Tennessee this season. The University of Tennessee finished as a 6 seed while going to the Elite 8 for the third straight year.
Nate Ament
Nate Ament was a top 5 HS recruit according to many recruiting websites. He was consistently talked about as a potential top 5 pick entering the season by some sites. I was skeptical coming in, and sure enough, his freshman season transpired exactly as I expected. He struggled out of the gate, really had some questionable processing, struggled to get by defenders, and looked like a giraffe running around. Then during SEC play, he figured it out for the most part and had a stretch where you saw the potential. He also got badly hurt towards the end of the year, so I wouldn’t take too much out of the last few games, especially the Tournament game against Miami-Ohio since he probably shouldn’t have been out there. Another important update from the Combine has been this:
So, keep that in mind.
On Drives: 15/26 = 57.7%
On Layups: 45/96 = 46.9%
On Pullups: 5/22 = 22.7%
On Dunks: 11/13 = 84.6%
As you can see here, there’s a lot of worrying things. Nothing here is elite. He’s 6’10 and finishing 52% around the rim, 46.9% on layups, and 39.9% from the field at 6’10. It’s a profile with massive red flags that’s very concerning for an NBA translation. What I’ve said all year for Ament is that he’s basically like Cam Johnson trying to be Kevin Durant. He’s still super talented and I think that if he has the mindset to be one of the best off ball wings in the league, he could be successful. The defense was fine this year. He’s got good size and he was good for stretches, but he wasn’t anything really notable. Interviews will be very important for him and for teams to see the mindset.