Knoxville to Durham: Top Duke Basketball Target Checking Out Rivalries
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Highland School (Va.) five-star Nate Ament was in Knoxville on Tuesday night. The 6-foot-9, 185-pound forward, a longtime Duke basketball offer holder who now ranks No. 4 overall on the 247Sports 2025 Composite, watched the visiting No. 12-ranked Kentucky Wildcats defeat the No. 8 Tennessee Volunteers, 78-73.
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Both SEC programs are in the top 11 he revealed earlier this month. The same goes for Duke.
Five-star Nate Ament is visiting Tennessee for the Kentucky game tonight.
— Mike Wilson (@ByMikeWilson) January 28, 2025
No. 4 prospect nationally and the top uncommitted recruit in the 2025 class. pic.twitter.com/UkirX2XD7T
Speaking of the No. 2 Blue Devils (18-2, 10-0 ACC), riding an NCAA-best 14-game winning streak, Ament will be in Cameron Indoor Stadium at 6:30 p.m. ET Saturday (ESPN) to take in this season's first of two scheduled Duke-UNC rivalry clashes.
The unranked Tar Heels (13-9, 6-4 ACC) did not land in his top 11. Surely, though, they'd find satisfaction in pulling off the upset to thereby spoil Jon Scheyer & Co.'s shot at leaving Ament with a winning final impression of the Blue Devils in what looks to be the homestretch of his recruitment.
He's already visited Duke a few times, including his first trip to Durham in September 2023, which resulted in Scheyer extending an offer to the smooth bucket-getter in person.
Nate Ament is a top 5 player nationally and still seems to be getting overlooked
— Hoop Herald (@TheHoopHerald) January 24, 2025
He is SPECIAL
There aren’t too many prospects in the last decade that have his combination of size, skill, and athleticism
A true unicorn
pic.twitter.com/feo1BMKsWM
In addition to Duke, Kentucky, and Tennessee, Nate Ament is still considering Louisville, BYU, Alabama, Notre Dame, Texas, Arkansas, Georgetown, and Kansas State.
Ament, who has been patient and is now the highest-ranked undecided senior, plans to announce a winner in February or March.
As things stand, the four-deep 2025 Duke basketball recruiting class ranks No. 1 in the country, consisting entirely of five-stars in Harvard-Westlake School (Calif.) forward Nik Khamenia, Bellaire High School (Texas) forward Shelton Henderson, and the Columbus High School (Fla.) twins in forward Cameron Boozer and guard Cayden Boozer.
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Stay tuned to Duke Blue Devils On SI for more Duke basketball recruiting news.