Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel may have found the football version of Nate Ament.

Ament, who recently declared for the 2026 NBA Draft, only spent one season on Rocky Top, but he quickly left a big impression thanks to who he is as a person and as a teammate.

Vols head basketball coach Rick Barnes made it clear multiple times over the last year that Ament is a “special” player because of the intangibles he brings.

“Nate is so special,” said Barnes last month. “Obviously we love him to death, and I just think that honestly, when he goes through this process that any and every team he sits down in front of, they’re going to see the same things that we see.

“There’s so much more to him than what you see on the court basketball-wise. Right now there’s no ceiling for him. He’s really hasn’t even scratched the surface. But it’s everything else he brings. I mean, he’s the kind of guy that any franchise, certainly the University of Tennessee, we want him to be the face of the program, and every franchise will see that, too.”

Heupel may have found the football version of Ament in 2027 three-star quarterback Derrick Baker, who committed to the Vols earlier this winter.

Derrick Baker has the “it factor” that can turn a player into a superstar

The one difference between Baker and Ament is that Baker isn’t a highly rated recruit (but that’s expected to change).

Beyond the recruiting ranking, though, there are plenty of similarities between Baker and Ament.

Specifically, Baker has many of the same intangibles that Barnes saw in Ament.

Baker just wants to win. He isn’t caught up in recruiting rankings or the flashiness of social media. His focus is on being an elite teammate and winning football games.

“I know I could possibly be ranked higher, and everyone goes off of rankings, but no one goes off your ability to be a leader,” said Baker to The Athletic. “The ability off the field. And then also there’s a part, an aspect of film. Yes, I understand that. But being ranked, I’m ranked right now, even if it is as a three-star, and I’m still grateful for that. Being ranked has never really been much of a worry for me. I just want to go out and play football.”

Baker missed most of last season while dealing with an injury, which slowed his recruitment.

Other programs, however, are now starting to pursue Baker more heavily. And there’s some concern that one of those programs could try to outbid Tennessee for Baker.

“I’m sure Tennessee will try to hold on to Derrick Baker,” said VolQuest’s Austin Price on WNML’s Josh and Swain this week. “But other teams have come calling. Other teams are going to offer financial packages that he may like more, or maybe not — we’ll see.

“Tennessee will have to decide how much do they want to go up on him (price wise). I mean, at the end of the day, you probably can’t bring in a $2 million or $3 million quarterback every cycle. That’s probably just not going to happen… His offer list has started to expand and grow, and it probably will only get bigger from here. I think he likes Tennessee for a reason, but you gotta do what’s best for you and your family.”

Baker, at least for now, seems solid in his commitment to the Vols.

A big reason for that is because of the way Tennessee recruited him when he was injured.

“They kept in contact through my injury, and that was the biggest part,” said Baker to The Athletic. “When I got injured, some of that recruitment went down, and I kind of knew that was coming. But for them to still show interest, they were coming out, still seeing me, even when I was injured. (Head) coach (Josh) Heupel was out to watch a game and talk to me, and it really showed that they want me and they want me around.”

Baker is the type of quarterback that can rally a team with his competitiveness, leadership, and ability to stay focused on doing whatever it takes to win games.

Essentially, he’s got the ‘dawg factor’ mixed with the ability to do special things with the football in his hands. That’s an elite combination to have. And it’s why the Vols were more than willing to take Baker’s commitment in February.