As Mark Pope attempts to navigate an ongoing, tricky injury situation for his first Kentucky basketball team, he’s also trying to put his best foot forward in a competitive recruiting race for one of the nation’s top high school seniors.

Recent weeks have seen UK assert itself — in a big way — in the recruiting picture for Nate Ament, a 6-foot-9 power forward in the 2025 high school recruiting class.

Ament is ranked by the 247Sports Composite as a five-star prospect and as the No. 4 national recruit in the 2025 class. Ament, who plays high school basketball in Virginia, is the highest-rated prospect who is yet to commit to a school.

“Ament is one of the most versatile players in this class, combining his exceptional movement skills for his size with genuine feel, skill and motor on both ends. … With his physical skills, feel, and growth curve, he’s on track to be one of the best prospects in this class,” Zach Welch, an analyst for Pro Insight Basketball, told the Herald-Leader.

Pope took an early liking to Ament as a prospect, even before he became the head coach at Kentucky last April. Ament has said that both Pope and UK assistant coach Cody Fueger recruited him when the duo were together at BYU.

That process continued in Lexington, with Pope extending a Kentucky scholarship offer to Ament in June.

Since then, there have been plenty of ebbs and flows in Ament’s recruitment. Currently, Ament is working with a top-11 list of schools, which includes the Wildcats. Ament’s recruitment is down to the following programs: Alabama, Arkansas, BYU, Duke, Georgetown, Kansas State, Kentucky, Louisville, Notre Dame, Tennessee and Texas.

Not all of these schools are on equal footing, though. Recent reporting from recruiting insiders suggests that Ament — who was named a 2025 McDonald’s All-American last month — is especially considering Arkansas, Duke, Kentucky, Louisville, Notre Dame and Tennessee for his college choice.

That Kentucky finds itself among these select schools vying for Ament’s commitment is a tale in and of itself.

For a while, there wasn’t much activity with Pope’s 2025 recruiting class at Kentucky. In November during the early signing period, three players — left-handed guards Jasper Johnson and Acaden Lewis and All-American center Malachi Moreno — signed to play at UK next season.

Since then, the biggest development on the recruiting front for UK in 2025 was the Wildcats’ failure to land five-star power forward Caleb Wilson. At one time considered a Kentucky lean, Wilson — who is also a 2025 Burger Boy — committed to North Carolina over UK in January.

“Obviously Caleb Wilson was the priority, but you know, Ament was there as well,” David Sisk — a Rivals basketball recruiting analyst who covers Kentucky and North Carolina — told the Herald-Leader. “Now there’s no doubt, I think (UK’s recruitment of Ament) got picked up a little bit after Caleb Wilson’s decision. In fact, it was pretty immediate.”

In just a matter of weeks, UK has made up a lot of ground in Ament’s recruitment.

Ament has had multiple in-person, up-close interactions with the Wildcats of late. First, Ament was on a visit to Tennessee on Jan. 28 when a shorthanded Kentucky squad went to Knoxville and won. Then, Ament was on an official visit to Kentucky last Tuesday night and watched another shorthanded win by UK over Tennessee.

Postgame, Pope even made a reference to hosting Ament for that visit. Just a few days later, Pope went to Virginia to watch Ament play on his senior night at the Highland School.

Despite playing from behind, Kentucky is now viewed as a real player in Ament’s recruitment.

“There’s nobody else really that they’re hot and heavy on in the ‘25 class. So it’s not like they’re biding their time between four or five guys,” Sisk said.

What would Kentucky basketball be getting in Nate Ament?

Obviously, Ament is highly regarded as a high school prospect.

He’s a consensus five-star recruit and one of just 24 players selected as a McDonald’s All-American. Ament also boasts international experience and was teammates with Johnson on the United States team that won gold at the FIBA U18 Men’s AmeriCup in Argentina last summer.

But as much as Ament is already an elite prospect and someone who is expected to have a one-and-done college basketball career, it’s his long-term potential that has analysts and scouts most excited.

“Ament is a prospect who I have no doubt about finding a way to make a tangible impact early on in college, but I do think his college destination will play a big part in his developmental pathways,” Welch, the Pro Insight Basketball analyst, said. “As someone with such a versatile game already, he is effectively a ball of clay that can (and) will be molded by his utilization and development at his next stop.”

In particular, the expected growth in Ament’s game as a ball handler and shooter is what raises the ceiling on what he could become as a player.

“While he certainly has plenty to iron out, he has very attainable dribble-pass-shoot upside, which is extremely rare at his size,” Welch said. “He has a pretty shooting stroke with a high release point and excellent touch and the percentages to match.”

Like Wilson, Ament represents the type of truly elite high school recruit that Pope is yet to land at any of his college coaching stops at BYU, Kentucky or Utah Valley.

The Wildcats’ 2025 high school class is well regarded. Each of Johnson, Lewis and Moreno are ranked among the top 30 players in the 2025 class, per the 247Sports Composite. Still, none of these players are viewed as a can’t miss one-and-done recruit, the recruiting archetype that UK fans came to expect under Pope’s predecessor, John Calipari.

Of course, the correlation between landing these types of players and team success in college basketball can be questioned. That being said, one of the few boxes that Pope is yet to check as a college recruiter is the ability to land this kind of high-level freshman talent.

Kentucky’s 2025 recruiting class ranks as the sixth-best incoming class in the nation. The Wildcats trail runaway leader Duke, Houston, UConn, Notre Dame and Arkansas (narrowly) on the team recruiting leaderboard.

Pope has already set several personal bests when it comes to recruiting with the 2025 class. Based on their current recruiting rankings, each of Johnson, Lewis and Moreno would represent, on their own, the best prospect ever successfully recruited by Pope.

What are UK basketball’s chances when recruiting Nate Ament?

It’s worth looking at the recruiting classes already in place for the other schools considered to be in the hunt for Ament’s commitment.

Duke’s top-ranked recruiting class for 2025 already features a pair of dominant power forwards in legacy recruit Cameron Boozer and Nikolas Khamenia. Until recently, the Blue Devils were viewed as the favorite to also get Ament.

Calipari and Arkansas have three players, all guards, signed to become Razorbacks next season. The ex-UK coach has also recently ratcheted up his recruitment of Ament, with Calipari and other Arkansas coaches traveling to go watch Ament play on Monday.

Neither Notre Dame nor Tennessee has a power forward in its 2025 recruiting class.

Louisville just went the international route to land one, with experienced German Sananda Fru committing to the Cardinals last week. Head coach Pat Kelsey’s team is now carrying significant momentum on the recruiting trail as well, following the addition of five-star point guard Mikel Brown Jr. on New Year’s Day.

It also doesn’t hurt the Cardinals’ cause that Ament has played on the Adidas grassroots circuit and that his high school is outfitted by Adidas.

Then, there’s Kentucky.

Seven players on the 2024-25 Kentucky basketball roster are expected to be out of NCAA eligibility after this season. The UK scholarship players who will still have eligibility after this season are guards Collin Chandler, Otega Oweh and Travis Perry, forward Trent Noah and center Brandon Garrison. On his weekly radio show Monday night, Pope indicated that a medial redshirt could be an option for injured fifth-year guard Kerr Kriisa.

The Herald-Leader has been told that point guard and power forward are the positions at the top of UK’s wish list when the NCAA transfer portal opens next month.

Even once you factor in the signed and sealed trio of Johnson, Lewis and Moreno, there is clear space and opportunity for Ament on next season’s Kentucky roster.

“I would love to see (Ament’s) college team empower him to continue leaning into his perimeter skills, while also further honing his defensive prowess,” Welch said. “Beyond this, as Ament fills out his frame at the next level, he’ll continue to improve his long term projection.”

As Ament’s recruitment enters its home stretch, one thing is clear: A significant monetary name, image and likeness (NIL) package will be a key factor in whichever school he chooses.

“I think NIL is going to be such a huge deal with him,” Sisk, the Rivals basketball analyst, said of Ament’s recruitment. “It’s not like it used to be where, you know, if you had to play catch-up, it was really tough. Because it’s not about building relationships anymore. … NIL is a huge part in (this recruitment).”

To Sisk’s point, Ament is already exploring some unique NIL-related avenues. Ament has entered into an official partnership with Fanstake, which describes itself as “a competitive recruitment platform where fans can contribute to an athlete’s endorsement deal.”

Under Pope’s leadership, Kentucky has shown the ability to win recruitments that had NIL as a major factor in them. This was most evident when UK secured a September commitment from Johnson over the likes of Alabama and North Carolina.

With that said, Ament’s recruitment and the schools competing against UK for his commitment looks significantly different than Johnson’s from the NIL angle.

“I think the teams that they’re up against (with Ament), Louisville and Duke, are probably more willing and able to go a little bit further than what North Carolina and Alabama could and would be willing to go (with Johnson),” Sisk said. “So I’ll be honest with you, I think when it comes down to that, this is a little bit more of a heated battle.