{"id":297950,"date":"2025-09-23T03:48:17","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T03:48:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/297950\/"},"modified":"2025-09-23T03:48:17","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T03:48:17","slug":"basketball-star-nate-aments-rwandan-roots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/297950\/","title":{"rendered":"Basketball star Nate Ament’s Rwandan Roots"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

By Black PR Wire<\/p>\n

(Black PR Wire) \u2013 Nate Ament\u2019s mother used to struggle to tell her kids about her life\u2019s journey.<\/p>\n

Ament, 18, will soon begin his freshman season for the Tennessee Volunteers after turning down a multitude of suitors. He is one of the most hyped prospects in college basketball, and is widely seen as a top contender to go first overall in the 2026 NBA draft and make millions of dollars in salary and endorsements.<\/p>\n

One generation before him, Ament\u2019s mother, Godelive Mukankuranga, was born of Tutsi ancestry in Rwanda. And after she finished elementary school, Mukankuranga had limited options \u2014 she wasn\u2019t allowed to go to a public secondary school because of her heritage. And private school would be expensive.<\/p>\n

\"\"Nate Ament at a basketball camp in Rwanda during a trip in August. (Photo Courtesy LIFT Sports)<\/p>\n

Mukankuranga, however, was offered through UNICEF a chance to go to school in Pisa, Italy. She lived with an Italian couple who would eventually become her adoptive parents while she studied to be a nurse. What Mukankuranga left behind was her home country and most of her family, who would become entangled in the Rwandan Civil War \u2014 and the concurrent genocide against the Tutsi.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did not really talk with my kids a lot about it because they were young and I didn\u2019t want them to know this sad news,\u201d Mukankuranga told NBC News. \u201cSlowly, I introduced to them what happened to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mukankuranga lost her mother, a brother, two sisters and several other family members in the genocide. She wouldn\u2019t return home until 1995, after completing her schooling as a nurse, to help with relief efforts in Rwanda.<\/p>\n

Three years later, in 1998, Mukankuranga met Albert Ament, a former basketball player at Wayne State University. After falling in love \u2014 and after Albert helped restore Mukankuranga\u2019s religious faith \u2014 they moved to Italy and ultimately Virginia, where they raised their four sons.<\/p>\n

Growing up, her son was always more of a soccer player. That was the sport he dreamed of playing professionally as a child. It wasn\u2019t until he was 13 and looking for activities during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic<\/a> that he began to take basketball more seriously, playing outdoors relentlessly with his brothers and friends.<\/p>\n

Now, Ament is described by ESPN\u2019s draft experts as \u201cultra-talented\u201d with \u201cshotmaking prowess, defensive versatility and scoring ability\u201d that could make him a franchise leader.<\/p>\n

This summer, before his freshman season and 30 years after his mother returned home, Ament made his own visit to Rwanda. Ament had visited two times before, mostly to spend time with family.<\/p>\n

But on this trip, Ament had a different purpose. Like his mother before him, he wanted to give back, coaching at multiple basketball camps, helping administer medical aid and meeting with the country\u2019s minister of sport.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was important for me to introduce myself to the country of Rwanda,\u201d Ament said. \u201cI want to do as much as I can for that country. They\u2019re using sport as a big way to build things up. I want to help in any way I can.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt means a lot to me,\u201d Mukankuranga said about Ament embracing his Rwandan heritage. \u201cTo see him going back and doing good things for Rwanda is making me very happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rwanda is still very much dealing with the legacy of the genocide, both internally in terms of its politics, and externally in terms of how the country is perceived. Both Ament and Mukankuranga speak highly of the country\u2019s natural beauty and how much it has progressed over the last 30 years. (In the capital of Kigali, says Mukankuranga, you can shop just like you can in America.)<\/p>\n

Ament wants to be in a position to not only help people in the country now, but maybe even serve as a symbol of hope for the younger generation. He knows, though, that any aims he has of giving back will in part depend on how much he can thrive in his basketball career.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest thing for me right now is I have to have a lot of success on the court for me to be able to even put myself in a position to support Rwanda,\u201d Ament said. \u201cSo for me, I\u2019m getting as ready as possible for this freshman year to make sure that I\u2019m in the best position myself and putting out the best product for the country. And then we\u2019ll see what happens in the future. We\u2019ve been talking with everybody from over there, and even then, they told me that the most important thing I can do is be successful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ament certainly has the physical makeup to be successful.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s 6-foot-10 with shooting and dribbling ability much closer to that of a guard than a center. His wiry frame and outside shot have already drawn comparisons to future Hall of Famer Kevin Durant, which Ament calls a blessing.<\/p>\n

For good measure, Ament\u2019s head coach with the Volunteers will be Rick Barnes, who was the Texas Longhorns coach during Durant\u2019s lone season in college in 2006. Ament and his Tennessee coaches have been watching film of players such as Durant and Jayson Tatum as a foundation for how he should play.<\/p>\n

After Ament signed with Tennessee<\/a>, Barnes called the prized recruit \u201ca high-character, family-oriented young man with a tremendous, caring support system around him who will mesh with our program from day one.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe brings a dynamic skill set to the hardwood, embodying the attributes of a modern basketball player,\u201d Barnes said. \u201cStanding out with next-level positional size, he possesses the rare combination of the ability to dribble, pass and shoot with confidence and precision. Nate has a strong basketball IQ to go along with an excellent pairing of skill and toughness. He\u2019s the kind of versatile talent who can impact the game in a variety of ways and, in our eyes, he was the No. 1 player in the class.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ament, though, doesn\u2019t want to be compared to other NBA talents. He says people should expect something unique when he takes the floor.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I\u2019ll show people a different type of player than a lot of people are used to,\u201d Ament said. \u201cAn NBA-type player that can do some things that people of my size don\u2019t typically do in college basketball. That with coach Barnes putting me in the right positions to have success on the floor, it\u2019s going to be exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n

As far as Ament\u2019s mental makeup \u2014 as he tries to navigate college with the goal of the NBA closer than ever, all while learning more about and trying to embrace his family\u2019s past \u2014 Ament draws on his mother for strength.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mom, she sets an inspiration for me,\u201d Ament said, noting that after the hardships she endured, she was working three different nursing jobs at one point while raising him and his three rambunctious brothers. \u201cThe strength that my mom has motivates me so much. I\u2019m grateful to not have to go through a situation like she or her family had to. It gives me a deeper understanding of how much I should really cherish the people I have.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mukankuranga says she feels stronger when she hears how highly Ament speaks of her. Mukankuranga is excited for him to embark on his own journey, though she says it\u2019s \u201cstressful\u201d to watch Ament play because of how miserable he is when he loses. (She also wants him to finish college, which likely won\u2019t be happening for a little while.)<\/p>\n

Mukankuranga knows, though, that her son\u2019s next chapter could help the country she had to leave.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe can help the young generation move on from what happened to Rwanda,\u201d Mukankuranga said. \u201cTell them there is a positive side after what happened. He is a product of a mother who escaped genocide. The young kids who see him, he can be an example for those kids. They can grow and try to move on.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Black PR Wire (Black PR Wire) \u2013 Nate Ament\u2019s mother used to struggle to tell her kids…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":297951,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[48607,7,48608,77,938,48609,18339,6,12,7926,1797,48610],"class_list":{"0":"post-297950","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba-draft","8":"tag-albert-ament","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-godelive-mukankuranga","11":"tag-jayson-tatum","12":"tag-kevin-durant","13":"tag-lift-sports","14":"tag-nate-ament","15":"tag-nba","16":"tag-nba-draft","17":"tag-rick-barnes","18":"tag-tennessee-volunteers","19":"tag-unicef"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115251570614327762","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297950","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=297950"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297950\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/297951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=297950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=297950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=297950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}