Nate Ament isn’t just making noise in Knoxville - he’s making history. The Tennessee freshman has been named SEC Freshman of the Week for the second straight time, and for the fifth time this season.
That’s not just impressive - it’s unprecedented in Vols program history. No other Tennessee freshman has ever earned the honor more than three times in a single season.
Ament now stands alone.
And he’s not just winning awards - he’s earning them in style.
In Tuesday’s win over Ole Miss, Ament dropped 28 points, with a staggering 26 of those coming in the second half. That’s not just a hot hand - that’s a player taking over a game when it matters most.
The Manassas, Virginia native showed poise, shot-making, and an ability to shift momentum almost single-handedly. It was the kind of performance that turns heads around the league.
Then came Saturday.
In one of the toughest environments in college basketball - Rupp Arena - Ament didn’t blink. He tied his career high with 29 points in a narrow loss to Kentucky, and in doing so, etched his name into the history books.
According to Jared Berson, that’s the most points scored by a visiting freshman at Kentucky in 36 years. That’s not just a good game - that’s legacy-level stuff.
Despite Ament’s heroics, Tennessee saw its three-game SEC win streak snapped in Lexington. The loss also dropped the Vols out of the AP Top 25 for the second time in three weeks. But it’s not like they disappeared from the national radar - they received the fourth-most votes among unranked teams, signaling that they’re still very much in the mix.
Now, the challenge is consistency. Tennessee will look to bounce back and start a new streak on Wednesday when they head to Mississippi State. After that, it’s back to Food City Center for a Saturday showdown with LSU.
But one thing is clear: as long as Nate Ament is wearing orange, the Vols have a game-changer on the floor - and a freshman who's already rewriting the record books.