Mark Pope is showing a ton of interest in this 2025 five-star recruit

Kentucky has to land this elite five-star recruit.

Mark Pope exits the bus with holding a trophy as he enters Rupp Arena greeting thousands of fans for his introductory press conference on Sunday, April 14, 2024. / Clare Grant/Courier Journal / USA TODAY

Mark Pope has been targeting many different players in the 2025 class, but there is one recruit for whom Coach Pope is putting all his chips on the table. It's pretty easy to tell during a recruiting process which recruits a coach really wants based on how many times they watch the player on the floor. Based on this, one player that Coach Pope wants to land badly is five-star power forward Nate Ament.

According to the 247Sports composite rankings, Ament is ranked as the 14th best player in the 2025 class, but given his recent play, he will be a top-ten prospect in no time.

This week, Ament was at DMV Live, where he was playing games, and a bunch of college coaches were in attendance. One of those college coaches was Kentucy's head coach. During the two games, Coach Pope was in attendance for Ament went ballistic. In the first game, he scored 24 points while pulling down eight boards, dishing two assists, and blocking four shots.

Game two was what really got Coach Pope excited, as Ament had 32 points while going 6-10 from three. He also pulled down 13 boards for a double-double, dished three assists, and blocked two shots.

The 6'9 forward is a perfect fit for what Coach Pope is looking for in a big as he can pass and shoot but also help pull down rebounds and protect the rim.

Ament is a player that Coach Pope wants to play for him badly, and you will see that based on how often he is watching the elite prospect play.

Nate Ament stuffed the stat sheet at DMV Live 👀

-41 points
-27 rebounds
-6 blocks

The 4⭐️ recruit is ranked 40th in the 2025 ESPN 100.@NateAment15 | @Highland_Hoops pic.twitter.com/o5zFLAvSld

— SportsCenter NEXT (@SCNext) June 22, 2024