In a pivotal ACC/SEC showdown tonight, Louisville basketball takes on the No. 20 Tennessee Volunteers (record). The Cardinals seek payback after last year's 22-point loss in the season's second game, aiming for their third marquee win of the season.
Louisville has already defeated one SEC team this season, but fell on the road at Arkansas. Now, they will try to build momentum off their two-game winning streak over Memphis and Indiana. For tonight’s showdown, many players on both sides will get a lot of attention, but one on Tennessee is a familiar name and face to Louisville and its fans.
Late spring of 2024, the Cardinals were in the running for a consensus 5-star recruit and one of the top recruits in the 2025 class. Nate Ament chose Tennessee over Louisville, and now the two will square off tonight.
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Louisville set to face off against former 5-star target
In March, the 5-star prospect was supposed to make his commitment announcement on April 1, but delayed it and announced on April 21. Leading up to April, Louisville was considered one of the top choices and even the frontrunner in Joe Tipton’s eyes.
The Cardinals were one of five finalists, along with Arkansas, Duke, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Kelsey and the Cards were pulling out all the tricks as Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell was even making pitches to Ament to commit to Louisville and play with Mikel Brown Jr.
However, the dream was crushed as it neared his announcement, and Tennessee took over as the frontrunner. The fans wanted Brown and Ament to be the best duo in college basketball, and on top of that, they added their three elite transfers from the portal.
Now, the former Cardinals target is a Volunteer, and he is second on the team in points per game. He is averaging 16.7 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.6 steals per game, while shooting 37.4 percent from the floor. Both he and Brown are projected lottery picks in the 2026 NBA Draft.
Now, Louisville and Ament square off tonight, and the Cardinals have a chance to show the former No. 4 overall recruit in the 2025 class what could have been.
Related: AP Polls just set the stage for Louisville's blockbuster showdown with Tennessee
For all the latest news and updates on Louisville basketball's 2025-26 season and recruiting, stay tuned.