Tennessee forward Nate Ament declares for the NBA draft after 1 season

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee forward Nate Ament declared Thursday that he’s heading to the NBA draft after one season in college.

Ament helped the Volunteers go 25-12 and to a No. 12 ranking in the final AP Top 25 poll with a third straight Elite Eight berth in the NCAA Tournament. The 6-foot-10, 207-pound Ament started all 35 games he played, and he ranked second in scoring 16.7 points a game. He averaged 6.3 rebounds per game, as well.

He announced his intentions in an Instagram post, saying the support from his Vol family is a huge reason why he has this opportunity.

“I promise to always represent the Vols with the upmost pride,” Ament wrote. “This University means more to me than just basketball — to me it’s a place I call home. I might’ve only been here a year but I’ll remember this year for the rest of my life.”

Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said earlier Thursday that Ament was so special.

“Honestly when he goes through this process that any and every team he sits down in front of they’re going to see the same things that we see,” Barnes said. “There’s so much more to him than what you see on the court. Basketball-wise right now I mean there’s no ceiling for him. He hasn’t even really scratched the surface.”

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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball