Nate Ament: The Sky Was Never the Limit.

Written By: Kekoa O’Neil

Contributor | Sideline Society Media

Shooting, ball handling, and the vision to set up everyone else are the skills that separate good basketball players from great ones. To do all three is rare. To do all three at 6 foot 10 is something the game almost never sees, and that is exactly what Nate Ament is. A five star recruit and the consensus number four prospect on ESPN's Top 100 out of Highland School in Virginia, Ament arrived at Tennessee expected to make an impact right away, and he did. As a freshman in the SEC he averaged 16.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 2.3 assists, and in a conference stacked with future pros he still stood out, helping carry the Volunteers to an Elite 8.

What sets him apart is what he does on both ends. The size is obvious, but height alone never guarantees impact, and Ament backed his frame up with real defensive instincts, using his length to disrupt ball handlers and choke off passing lanes. The work is not finished. At 6 foot 10 he has to rebound better than 6.3 a game, solid for a power forward but short of what his size demands, and at 207 pounds he has to add strength before he can hold up against NBA bigs.

He is currently projected tenth overall to the Milwaukee Bucks, a landing spot that could fit him perfectly, because the player he calls to mind is a younger Giannis Antetokounmpo, who entered the league not as a force but as a versatile forward still learning to weaponize his handle and his shot. The other comparison writes itself. Kevin Durant. The same lean frame, the same ability to put it on the floor and rise into a jumper from anywhere.

Ament has a long way to go as a scorer, but the ceiling is almost unreasonable. In a draft class this deep, in a year crowded with gifted freshmen, his versatility is what makes him impossible to ignore. He will need time before he changes a team, and front offices know it, but the upside is the kind organizations talk themselves into. Size and skill almost never live in the same player. They live in this one.

The sky is the limit, and the right organization will only get him there faster.