March Madness has begun and all the teams are betting on their promising star players to deliver on the hardwood in order to clinch the national championship. Among other dominant programs, Tennessee Volunteers are also in the Field of 68. They have made it so far thanks to a 19-year-old emerging freshman who’s getting a lot attention lately.
Nate Ament has been one member of the Volunteers who has remained consistent, delivering various game winning performances. In his debut college basketball season for the Volunteers, the 6-foot-10 forward is averaging 17.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists with a 40.5% field goal shooting accuracy. He committed to Tennessee last year in April over other elite programs including Duke, Kentucky, Notre Dame and Arkansas.
Interestingly, Ament is also one of the top-10 projected draft picks for the next NBA season. Clearly, he’s ensured his place in the big league even before turning 20. Not to mention he’s turned many heads with his on-court skills. It turns out that ESPN analyst Seth Greenberg is quite impressed with the freshman.
On Tuesday, Greenberg made a huge claim regarding Ament’s NBA future while praising his debut season for the Volunteers. According to him, the 19-year-old is highly underrated at the moment. “I think Nate Ament is under the radar. Started a little slow but as he’s matured into the game, got a little bit better understanding of playing with a base and more powerful.” Greenberg believes Ament is now “doing a better job of getting to his spots.”
“He does a good job at getting those spots, shooting the three much better, you can play him all over the floor.” Doubling down on his praise for the youngster, Greenberg then went on to say that he “reminds me of Kevin Durant.”
future NBA all star: Nate Ament according to Seth Greenberg pic.twitter.com/s2mGiSNlEt
— Oh No He Didn’t (@ohnohedidnt24) March 17, 2026
Making a huge prediction for Ament’s future and drawing parallels with Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant, the ESPN analyst concluded, “This guy right here, he is going to be the NBA All-Star. 6-foot-10, shoots it long, athletic, reminds of me KD.”
With a consistent star like Nate Ament on their side, Tennessee Volunteers will hope to make a long shot in the NCAA Tournament. They are part of the Midwest region and will play their first game of the tournament against the Miami Ohio or SMU.
Related: Tennessee Lands Five-Star Forward Nate Ament Over SEC, National Rivals
This story was originally published by Athlon Sports on Mar 17, 2026, where it first appeared in the College Basketball section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.