Tennessee basketball has added a commitment from Brandon Huntley-Hatfield, an elite 2022 power forward who will reclassify as a 2021 prospect.
The 6-foot-9, 230-pound Huntley-Hatfield, originally from Clarksville, Tenn., is the No. 6 overall player in the industry-generated 247Sports Composite for the 2022 class. He’s the No. 1 power forward nationally and the No. 1 overall prospect out of Pennsylvania, where he attends Scotland Campus in Scotland, Pa.
Huntley-Hatfield is ranked No. 7 nationally in the 247Sports ratings.
“Has a quintessential power forward body with length, strength and density,” 247Sports Director of Basketball Scouting Jerry Meyer wrote of Huntley-Hatfield in his scouting report. “Power-based athlete. High level body control for a player his size. Can score from all three levels. Very comfortable with the ball.
“Has functional ball-handling skills that produce buckets in scoring range. Can get to the basket efficiently. Loves to go left as a righty. Has ability to dominate his area as a rebounder. Improving as a defender is a proper area of focus.”
Meyer projects Huntely-Hatfield as a future first-round pick in the NBA Draft, comparing him to New York Knicks forward Julius Randle.
Huntley-Hatfield, as a 2021 prospect, would be added to a Tennessee class that already includes signatures from five-star point guard Kennedy Chandler and four-star wing Jahmai Mashack, two prospects who signed during the early signing period in November.
The Vols have since added a commitment from 2021 shooting guard Quentin Ambrose, an unrated French prospect currently attending Montverde Academy in Florida, and a transfer commitment from Auburn guard Justin Powell.
Tennessee’s biggest need is in the post, where an inside presence was missing during a frustrating 2020-21 season.
Reserve big men Uros Plavsic and Olivier Nkamhoua played only limited minutes off the bench. Senior Yves Pons entered the NBA Draft and senior forward E.J. Anosike entered the NCAA Transfer Portal after struggling and falling out of the rotation over the second half of the season.
Tennessee could still return redshirt senior John Fulkerson for a sixth season, should he opt to take advantage of the NCAA’s free year of eligibility granted to student-athletes due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Huntley-Hatfield, a cousin of former Kentucky forward Alex Poythress, has a been a longtime target of the Vols, who extended an offer in June 2019. He’s a product of the B.Maze Elite AAU program, ran by former Tennessee point guard Bobby Maze.
In the end, Huntley-Hatfield was the pick over Ole Miss and Syracuse. He had other offers in hand from Baylor, Kansas, Memphis, Auburn and Florida, among others.
