University of Tennessee Athletics
Photo by: Elliot Walker/Tennessee Athletics
Ament Selected for Erving Award Midseason Top 10 List
February 04, 2026 | Men's Basketball
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Freshman forward Nate Ament of the University of Tennessee men's basketball team is on the Julius Erving Award Midseason Top 10 Watch List, as announced Wednesday afternoon by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
The annual Julius Erving Award, named after the Class of 1993 Hall of Famer and 17-year professional basketball player, celebrates its 12th year by recognizing the top small forwards in Division I men's college basketball.
Ament is one of just three freshmen who made the list, alongside BYU's A.J. Dybantsa and Baylor's Tounde Yessoufou. He is also among three picks from the SEC, joining Florida's Thomas Haugh and Texas' Dailyn Swain.
The 6-foot-10, 207-pounder is averaging 17.1 points, a team-best 6.4 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.1 steals per game. In addition to rebounding, he tops Tennessee in made free throws (124) and free-throw attempts (162), while ranking second in scoring, assists, made field goals (112) and made 3-pointers (28).
In SEC play, Ament is putting up 19.6 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game, while shooting 44.8 percent from the field, 35.5 percent beyond the arc and 75.3 percent at the line.
Ament has registered 17-plus points in 13 of his 22 outings as a Volunteer, including hitting that mark in each of the last seven contests. He has 20-plus points on seven occasions, including in four of the past six games.
Furthermore, Ament has grabbed five-plus rebounds 19 times, with seven-plus in 10 appearances and nine-plus in four. He also possesses five performances with at least four assists and eight with at least two steals.
Along with becoming the first four-time SEC Freshman of the Week in program history, Ament is also the fourth Tennessee freshman ever to win SEC Player of the Week. He is a member of the Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 Watch List and the Wayman Tisdale Award Midseason Watch List.
Ament and No. 25/RV Tennessee (16-6, 6-3 SEC) resume action Saturday at 8 :30 p.m. at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky., where they square off with Kentucky, live on ESPN.
To keep up with the University of Tennessee men's basketball team on social media, follow @Vol_Hoops on Instagram and X/Twitter, as well as /tennesseebasketball on Facebook.
JULIUS ERVING AWARD MIDSEASON TOP 10 WATCH LIST
Nate Ament, Tennessee
Chad Baker-Mazara, USC
Coen Carr, Michigan State
Ryan Conwell, Louisville
A.J. Dybantsa, BYU
Thomas Haugh, Florida
Milan Momcilovic, Iowa State
Andrej Stojaković, Illinois
Dailyn Swain, Texas
Tounde Yessoufou, Baylor
The annual Julius Erving Award, named after the Class of 1993 Hall of Famer and 17-year professional basketball player, celebrates its 12th year by recognizing the top small forwards in Division I men's college basketball.
Ament is one of just three freshmen who made the list, alongside BYU's A.J. Dybantsa and Baylor's Tounde Yessoufou. He is also among three picks from the SEC, joining Florida's Thomas Haugh and Texas' Dailyn Swain.
The 6-foot-10, 207-pounder is averaging 17.1 points, a team-best 6.4 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.1 steals per game. In addition to rebounding, he tops Tennessee in made free throws (124) and free-throw attempts (162), while ranking second in scoring, assists, made field goals (112) and made 3-pointers (28).
In SEC play, Ament is putting up 19.6 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game, while shooting 44.8 percent from the field, 35.5 percent beyond the arc and 75.3 percent at the line.
Ament has registered 17-plus points in 13 of his 22 outings as a Volunteer, including hitting that mark in each of the last seven contests. He has 20-plus points on seven occasions, including in four of the past six games.
Furthermore, Ament has grabbed five-plus rebounds 19 times, with seven-plus in 10 appearances and nine-plus in four. He also possesses five performances with at least four assists and eight with at least two steals.
Along with becoming the first four-time SEC Freshman of the Week in program history, Ament is also the fourth Tennessee freshman ever to win SEC Player of the Week. He is a member of the Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 Watch List and the Wayman Tisdale Award Midseason Watch List.
Ament and No. 25/RV Tennessee (16-6, 6-3 SEC) resume action Saturday at 8 :30 p.m. at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky., where they square off with Kentucky, live on ESPN.
To keep up with the University of Tennessee men's basketball team on social media, follow @Vol_Hoops on Instagram and X/Twitter, as well as /tennesseebasketball on Facebook.
JULIUS ERVING AWARD MIDSEASON TOP 10 WATCH LIST
Nate Ament, Tennessee
Chad Baker-Mazara, USC
Coen Carr, Michigan State
Ryan Conwell, Louisville
A.J. Dybantsa, BYU
Thomas Haugh, Florida
Milan Momcilovic, Iowa State
Andrej Stojaković, Illinois
Dailyn Swain, Texas
Tounde Yessoufou, Baylor
Players Mentioned
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MBB | Ole Miss Postgame (2.3.26)
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