Kentucky's win in Knoxville could help the Wildcats chances of landing a five-star

Could Kentucky's big upset in Knoxville help land a five-star?

Jan 11, 2025; Starkville, Mississippi, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope looks on against the Mississippi State Bulldogs during the second half at Humphrey Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Wesley Hale-Imagn Images / Wesley Hale-Imagn Images

When Kentucky took on the Tennessee Volunteers in Knoxville there was a five-star recruit in attendance to visit Tennessee. That five-star is Nate Ament from Virginia.

After Caleb Wilson chose North Carolina over Kentucky, Ament was a name that floated around for the Wildcats to make a run after.

Ament, of course, saw the Wildcats take down the Volunteers without two starters in what was a massive momentum win for Mark Pope's team.

At the moment, the Wildcats are definitely not one of the top schools for Ament, but Coach Pope seems to be making a push after the number four overall player in the 2025 class.

Ament is a forward who shoots the ball at a high level which would make him a really good fit in Coach Pope's system.

Schools like Duke, Tennessee, and Louisville seem to be in the driver's seat to land Ament, but Coach Pope is not going to go down without a fight. It still seems like it would be a long shot for the Wildcats to land Ament, but Kentucky fans should always have belief in Coach Pope.

Nate Ament had the most impressive performance of Hoophall Classic leading Highland to a big upset over Prolific Prep, perhaps the best team in high school basketball. 22 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists for the near 7-footer, who is showing significant growth on both ends. pic.twitter.com/qG4p0pMPJ6

— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) January 21, 2025

Here is the scouting report on Ament from Adam Finkelstein of 247Sports, "Ament is one of the best long-term prospects in the country. He's an immense talent and still in the early stages of putting it all together. He has good positional size for a face-up forward at over 6-foot-9 with an elastic body type, albeit a relatively modest 6-foot-11 wingspan. He's a fluid mover, plus athlete, and has tremendous natural hands and touch, which are the foundation of his developing skill-set."