FRESHMAN PHENOM'S STELLAR START...
• Nate Ament claimed SEC Freshman of the Week honors on 11/10/25, the first such accolade of the year in the league. The last Volunteer to win the award was Julian Phillips on 1/23/23.
• Ament, to begin his career against Mercer (11/3/25) became the fifth Tennessee freshman with 18 points in a season opener in the last 20 years (2006-26).
• Next, Ament had 23 points, eight rebounds, five assists and two steals versus Northern Kentucky (11/8/25). He became the sixth SEC freshman in the last 20 seasons (2006-26) to reach that mark, joining Reed Sheppard (12/2/23), Brandon Miller (3/12/23), VFL Kennedy Chandler (2/22/22), Ben Simmons (12/2/15) and James Young (1/8/14). Only two other Vols, Chandler and Josiah-Jordan James (3/1/22), have hit those numbers across that two-decade span.
• In the only game of his second week, Nate Ament had 19 points, nine rebounds, five assist, two steals and one block versus North Florida (11/12/25). He became the fifth SEC freshman—seventh instance— in the last 20 years (2006-26) to register that line. Ament follows Ben Simmons (thrice in 2015-16), James Young (1/8/14), Archie Goodwin (11/23/12) and John Wall (3/27/10). Only one other Vol, Igor Miličić Jr. (2/5/25) has notched that line in those 20 seasons.
• That lone performance helped Ament repeat as SEC Freshman of the Week on 11/17/25. He became the sixth Vol with two such honors in a season, including the first since Zakai Zeigler in 2021-22 and the first one ever to garner them in back-to-back weeks.
• To open his third week, Ament had 19 points and 10 rebounds for his first double-double, adding three steals, against Rice (11/17/25). He became the fifth SEC freshman—six instance—in the past 15 years (2011-26) with that line, following Brandon Miller (3/12/23); Jabari Smith (11/12/21); Aaron Nesmith (11/27/18); and Ben Simmons (twice in 2015-16). The last Vol to do it was over 19 years ago when Dane Bradshaw (1/18/06) achieved it.
• Ament then had 15 points, six boards, four assists and four steals against Tennessee State (11/20/25). He is the fifth SEC freshman—third in regulation— with that line in the last 10 years (2016-26), alongside Collin Murray-Boyles (3/9/24 in OT), Anthony Edwards (2/26/20 in OT), Keyontae Johnson (3/15/19) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (3/15/18).
• In his first three contests versus Power Five foes, Ament averaged 16.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists 1.3 steals per game at the Players Era Men's Championship. He scored 20 against both Rutgers (11/24/25) and Kansas (11/26/25), with nine in the middle in a win over #3/2 Houston (11/25/25). For that performance, he again won SEC Freshman of the Week.
...AND GETTING GOING AGAIN
• After averaging 11.1 points per game in a seven-contest span (12/2/25 to 1/6/26) that followed his aforementioned hot start, Nate Ament exploded once again.
• Ament scored 17-plus points in each of the next six games (1/10/26 to 1/31/26). He tied his then-career high with 23 points (19 in the final 20 minutes) in a 1/13/26 double-overtime win against Texas A&M and then broke that with 29 points (18 in the second half) in a victory at #17 Alabama.
• Ament averaged 21.2 points and 6.2 rebounds per game in that five-outing span, shooting 37.5 percent from deep and 80.0 percent at the line.
• For his performance against the Crimson Tide, Ament won SEC Player of the Week (1/26/26). He became the fourth Tennessee freshman every to do so, following Jarnell Stokes (3/5/12), Tony Harris (2/9/98) and Allan Houston (2/11/90).
• Alongside his 29 points in Tuscaloosa, Ala., Ament tallied seven rebounds and three assists. He became the sixth SEC freshman in the last 20 years (2006- 26) with that line, joining Tre Johnson (2/15/25), Anthony Edwards (2/26/20 in OT), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (3/11/18), Ben Simmons (1/2/16 and 12/2/15) and Terrence Jones (11/22/10).
• In addition, Ament became the first freshman in any league with 29 points, seven rebounds and three assists on the road against an AP top-25 team since Arizona's Chase Budinger on 2/10/07 at Oregon.
• The only Tennessee freshmen in the last 20 seasons (2006-26) to score 29-plus points in a game are Nate Ament, Jaden Springer (2/10/21) and Grant Williams (2/11/17 and 12/15/16).
• Ament went 12-of-15 from the line in the win over Auburn (1/31/26), becoming the first Volunteer to hit either of those marks since Grant Williams (1/23/19).
• The performance against the Tigers, alongside his 19-point showing in a win at Georgia, helped Ament win SEC Freshman of the Week on 2/2/26, making him the first four-time honoree in program history.
Prediction & Odds
