Louisville Head Coach Kenny Payne has secured his first commitment and it comes via the transfer portal. Brandon Huntley-Hatfield, formerly of the University of Tennessee has joined the program. He’s a native of Clarksville, TN, the hometown of Cardinal Forever Marques Maybin.
Breaking: Tennessee transfer Brandon Huntley-Hatfield has committed to Louisville, he tells @On3sports.
— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) April 24, 2022
The former five-star recruit becomes Kenny Payne’s first commitment as head coach.
Story: https://t.co/eYeOY9y7y6 pic.twitter.com/eh96AF9T2H
Huntley-Hatfield is a 6’10 240 lbs PF/C that was a 5 Star player coming out of high school. He actually played his high school ball in PA. He was ranked 26th overall and number 7 at his position per 247sports. He had offers from Baylor, Memphis, Louisville, Auburn, Florida, Kansas, and uk, among others coming out of high school. He actually reclassified from the class of 2022 to the class of 2021.
L’s Up ❤️ pic.twitter.com/3yBybt1oPF
— Brandon ߙ (@RealGupaveli) April 24, 2022
He made the decision to enter the transfer portal on April 10th and it was pretty much a two-horse race between Auburn and UofL. He just finished up his UofL visit and immediately pulled the trigger to join the program.
Huntley-Hatfield is a player with a unique skill set. He’s not a back-to-the-basket player. Instead, he’s a 6’10 big with the skill to hit jumpers from the 15-19 feet. I believe he could move his range to beyond the arc. He couples this with an ability to face up and actually drive to the rim. For his size, he’s a good ball handler in that he can make decisive moves and get to the rim from the anywhere. Around the rim, Huntley-Hatfield is a pretty ferocious finisher. He’s going to dunk the ball a lot. Maybe his greatest asset is his passing. As a big, he’s got good vision and he is a willing passer. Huntley-Hatfield would be an ideal player in high post sets and could be a zone buster with his shooting and passing ability.
This is a great pickup for Coach Payne and staff. While Huntley-Hatfield’s stats weren’t eye-popping at Tennessee, he showed flashes of his true talent. It is easy to believe that Huntley-Hatfield should really develop under tutelage of Coach Payne and Coach Danny Manning. Many aspects of Huntley-Hatfield’s game are similar to what Coach Manning did as a player. The roster is truly taking shape now and UofL fans now wait for the decision of 4 Star Devin Ree. Brandon Huntley-Hatfield was a 5 Star talent coming out of high school and I think he will live up to that ranking here at UofL.
