It was announced earlier today that the unanimous 5-star recruit Nate Ament would no longer announce his commitment tomorrow, April 1, at the McDonald's All-American game. He has officially postponed his commitment date, and the new commitment date has yet to be announced.
Pat Kelsey and the Louisville Cardinals found out they made the No. 4 overall recruit's top five schools on February 25 after Ament announced on a podcast. The 6-foot-9, 185-pound small forward's recruiting process has been nearly impossible to follow, as every school has been a favorite to land Ament at some point.
The Cardinals were the favorite last month as Joe Tipton of On3 announced he predicted the Cardinals to land Ament. Louisville has been one of the loyal programs to Ament as they made their offer to the No. 4 prospect in the class of 2025 last April 2024.
However, a lot can happen in one month of recruiting, and there has been a late bloomer for Ament, who is now the new frontrunner, as reported by Paul Biancardi of ESPN.
Louisville basketball falling behind with Nate Ament
Biancardi reported earlier today that he believes Arkansas and Duke are the new frontrunners to land Ament.
The Blue Devils have remained at the top for a long time, as Joe Tipton reported a month ago that Duke was behind the Cardinals. However, the Razorbacks didn't make their offer until last month after Ament visited Coach Cal for the first time.
During ESPNU's coverage of McDonald's All American SCRIMMAGE, @PaulBiancardi said he believes Arkansas & Duke are the frontrunners to land 2025 Nat'l No. 3 / 5-star Nate Ament @NateAment15 (6-9 CF, Highland Scool in Va.), who was to announce tomorrow, but that has been pushed out pic.twitter.com/DVZLLV6RUt
— Kevin McPherson (@ARHoopScoop) March 31, 2025
After re-listening to Ament talking about Arkansas and why they are one of the top five schools, it isn't shocking to hear that Arkansas continues to make a late push for the 5-star recruit. Ament had high praise for coach Calipari, and it seems clear that a big factor in Ament's decision is NBA development. There is no debate that Coach Cal is known for his historic NBA players and one-and-done years with Kentucky.
"Obviously, Coach Cal has produced a lot of NBA talent, and beginning as a basketball player and seeing him at Kentucky is kind of a dream for a lot of players to see all these NBA players playing on one team." Ament stated.
Related: 3 Biggest threats for Louisville to land elite 5-star prospect Nate Ament
The Blue Devils have been predicted as a top landing spot for Ament due to their elite recruiting class. The Blue Devils' recruiting class is ranked No. 2 in the nation and No. 1 in the ACC. Their impressive class includes two 5-star commits, including Cameron Boozer, the No. 2 player in the country. The other 5-star commitment is Shelton Henderson, who is known to be a close friend of Ament's.
They also have two 4-star commits, McDonald's All-American participant Nikolas Khamenei. Duke has three players in the McDonald's All-American Game, and the Cardinals fans can only assume these Blue Devils commitments are in Ament's ear to join Jon Scheyer and the Duke Blue Devils.
Duke has been the most loyal program of these five schools as they made their off offer to Ament back in September of 2023. Ament has visited Duke three times in his recruiting process.
Louisville basketball seems to have lost ground in this final month of Ament's recruitment. Hopefully, Kelsey and his staff can sway Ament back to the Cardinals' side and land this massive 5-star recruit, but it seems that the Arkansas Razorbacks and the Duke Blue Devils have taken the lead over the Cardinals.