ESPN Analyst Snubs Darryn Peterson in Bold Freshman Prediction

There are a handful of college basketball freshmen around the country expected to make a significant impact in the 2025-26 season.

Among those players are Kansas' Darryn Peterson, BYU's AJ Dybantsa, and Duke's Cameron Boozer.

However, in a recent article from ESPN's Myron Medcalf, the analyst made a bold prediction that Tennessee's Nate Ament will in fact be the best in the nation.

"When Rick Barnes tells you that a young player will be a star, you should believe him," Medcalf wrote. "From Kevin Durant to Dalton Knecht, Barnes has molded some of the top players in the country over the past 30 years."

"He recently told ESPN that Ament, a possible top-five pick in next year's NBA draft, could be a special player this season," he continued. "The 6-9 forward could be the next star under Barnes."

Ament, who was a consensus top-5 prospect in the 2025 recruiting class, is a versatile 6-foot-10 forward with potential to become a two-way star.

While he will certainly be one of the best first-year players, most scouts consider Peterson and Dybantsa the most NBA-ready prospects this year.

Ament has all the necessary physical and athletic tools, but he often lacks assertiveness on offense. Medcalf’s prediction feels like he is banking on Ament immediately tapping into his upside, which has not consistently translated against top competition yet.

We know bold takes are meant to be polarizing, but it’d be extremely surprising if Ament turned out to be a better college player than Peterson and other top freshmen around the country.