Will the Vols be able to land this kid?

You know what, Tennessee basketball coach Rick Barnes is not going to go down without a fight. When it comes to 5-star power forward Nate Ament, there’s been plenty of speculation that Duke and Louisville are his leaders.

However, the Vols made his cut of finalists and the elite prospect ended up pushing back his decision date, as he originally was going to make the call at the McDonald’s All-American Game. Barnes continues to be in touch with Ament, hoping he can sign him ahead of the 2025-26 campaign.

With Ament delaying things, it has opened the door for Barnes to continue selling him on what his future would look like if he does make the move to Knoxville. So, when will Ament’s decision arrive? Within the next week or two, he told analyst Krysten Peek:

“Just how I feel and how I trust the coaches and what they’re telling me,” Ament told Peek on what’s going into his decision. “How much I truly believe I can come in and be an impact freshman and honestly just how much I can come in, make mistakes and learn from them in a game – and the coaches trusting me to make adjustments in the game.”

Tennessee indeed is a finalist, but the Vols are joined by Duke, Louisville, Arkansas and Kentucky. There’s a lot of SEC flavor in there, but Duke and Jon Scheyer are also doing what they can to try and get Ament to Durham. This feels like it’s a wide open race.

Ament is ranked five stars, the No. 2 PF and No. 4 prospect nationally per the 247Sports Composite. He picked up nearly 30 offers throughout his recruitment. He’s got a bright future ahead of him at the college level, while plenty of experts think he’ll be a high first-round NBA pick as well. Barnes is shooting his shot here and it’d no question be a monster get for UT if the veteran coach can pull this off.