On Friday, Tennessee transfer and power forward Brandon Huntley-Hatfield listed Auburn in his final five. Other schools that he included were Wake Forest, Louisville, Arizona State, and SMU.
Coming out of high school, Huntley-Hatfield was regarded as a five-star by 247Sports. They also had him ranked as the No. 24 player in the class of 2021. The Tennessee native had a final five of Wake Forest, Ole Miss, Auburn, Tennessee, and Kansas out of high school. Ultimately, he chose the Volunteers and head coach Rick Barnes.
Last season as a freshman, he averaged 3.9 points per game to go along with 3.0 rebounds per game. Although his role on the team was relatively small to start the season, he began to get more playing time when forward Olivier Nkamhoua suffered a season-ending injury. It created the opportunity for Huntley-Hatfield to start in 13 games for the Vols. In the SEC Tournament, he scored 20 points in three games against Mississippi State, Kentucky, and Texas A&M. He also played 31 minutes in the NCAA Tournament and scored 11 points.
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The Auburn coaching staff has certainly placed a huge emphasis on finding replacements for both Jabari Smith and Walker Kessler. Thus far, the Tigers have also reached out to Morehead State transfer Johni Broome. Broome is scheduled to visit the Plains this weekend. Auburn is firmly in the mix to land the OVC defensive player of the year. As for Huntley-Hatfield, he is yet to announce if he will be visiting Auburn. However, the Tigers have to like their chances as they were in his final five coming out of high school.
Huntley-Hatfield would definitely give the Tigers an elite rebounder and a player who is very active on defense. Standing at 6 foot 10, he can easily create mismatches inside against under-sized lineups. With the Tigers already having Yohan Traore, Dylan Cardwell, and Jaylin Williams in the mix, it would not hurt to add another play of Huntley-Hatfield’s caliber. He already has SEC experience and would likely gel well in Bruce Pearl’s system.
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