NC State Basketball: Wolfpack land transfer big man Brandon Huntley-Hatfield
By Joey Loose
While the attention of the college basketball world will soon turn towards Phoenix for the Final Four, there’s still plenty of activity in the Transfer Portal. Among the hundreds of names already in the Portal, another has found their destination as Brandon Huntley-Hatfield has committed to NC State.
Huntley-Hatfield is a 6’10 power forward from Clarksville, Tennessee who was considered a Top 25 prospect just three seasons ago out of high school. He spent his freshman year as a minor contributor at Tennessee before transferring to Louisville in 2022.
A starter for much of his time with the Cardinals, he was an important piece of Kenny Payne’s system, albeit in two dreadful seasons for that Louisville program. Huntley-Hatfield put up reasonable numbers as a sophomore in that first season at Louisville but stepped up his game this past season.
As a junior, he’d average 12.9 points and 8.4 rebounds per game, becoming the top rebounder on a Cardinals squad that finished at the bottom of the ACC standings. Regardless, Huntley-Hatfield certainly took a few steps forward with his game this season.
At the beginning of February he had a career-high 29 points in a win over Florida State and that seemed to be a catalyst. From there on, Huntley-Hatfield would score in double figures in each of the Cardinals’ final 11 games, including several double-doubles and a 59% field goal rate.
Now, Huntley-Hatfield looks to parlay that success into his senior season, which he’ll spend at NC State. Ironically, his final game as a Cardinal came in the ACC Tournament against that same Wolfpack squad, though he’ll be looking to be a major contributor for that program next season.
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We don’t know exactly what the Wolfpack will look like next season, though we do know that they remain alive thanks to a crazy postseason run. Huntley-Hatfield has a certain role and we’ll know more about how he fits in after the Final Four, but know that NC State landed one of the great early frontcourt commits in the Transfer Portal.