Brandon Huntley-Hatfield enters the transfer portal

[hUTch2002]

He was supposed to still be playing HS basketball.

Spin it all you want, this stings. He had a ton of potential at a huge position of need.

Maybe I’m in the minority here but I’m with you. I didn’t see the bad player some on here see. I saw youth couple with good hands, great footwork, good size, and nice touch and those are things you can’t teach. He absolutely has All-SEC potential, maybe even first round draft pick potential.

 

[MoreSteam]

He had the inside track to start at the 5 next year on a potential top 10 team, or at worst play "starters" minutes.Where does He think he'll go that would be a better situation than the one he's leaving ?!

Have heard Georgetown (the dumpster fire) might be someplace to watch

 

[K-town Vol Fan]

Maybe I’m in the minority here but I’m with you. I didn’t see the bad player some on here see. I saw youth couple with good hands, great footwork, good size, and nice touch and those are things you can’t teach. He absolutely has All-SEC potential, maybe even first round draft pick potential.

Agreed. I thought he was a year or 2 away from being an elite big.

 

[golfballs]

Sure he had potential, but there are clear roadblocks in him ever realizing it.

 

[cncchris33]

So??? I gave a paraphrased quote from Barnes from a couple months ago that explains why BHH was getting more time. It seemed that he was buying in to the idea that talent alone wouldn't get him to where he wanted to be, which was more playing time. That was from Barnes. Right now, he doesn't appear to be in that same frame of mind. That situation is clearly fluid and it seems like BHH and his attitude towards Tennessee's culture has regressed.

Not sure you have quite the "gotcha" moment you first anticipated.

 

[CAVPUT]

Agreed. I thought he was a year or 2 away from being an elite big.

That might be part of the disconnect. We want and need a productive post player. A physical guy who can score with his back to the rim, rebound and block shots. I'm thinking he sees himself as an outside/finesse player in the mold of a Kevin Durant.

 

[hUTch2002]

Tall people are mean.

They’re always looking down on people.

 

[cncchris33]

And how do you know his attitude sucks?

I'm operating under the belief that it's true that he skipped practice and then called Barnes demanding a guaranteed of 30 mpg. If true, that is the dictionary definition of a sucky attitude.

Moreover, I didn't explicitly say that BHH's attitude sucks. I said that there are plenty of talented kids who never pan out because their attitude sucks in an effort to suggest that 99% of the time, talent alone isn't enough at this level.

 

[Voljayton]

I can't decide how I feel about this. On one hand he was young and I was excited to see how he grew in our program (and I REALLY want a dominant big man on the team). On the other hand, from what I could see from my couch, he didn't seem to mesh with the rest of the team. I never saw genuine excitement for his teammates when they were hot etc. I hope Aidoo really grows and gets physical and becomes the guy. I also want to see more of Mashack (not on the block but just in general).

 

[Col_Cathcart]

Yeah, The NBA only takes good attitude kids. He’ll probably end up destitute lake James Harden or DeMarcus Cousins.

Yeah, but if you have that problem you need to be REALLY GOOD. Those 2 guys were so far ahead of where BHH is that we’re barely talking about the same game. Not to be glib, but he’s not in their league.

 

[VolinMichigan]

This one hurts. Aidoo showed a couple things but I thought BHH was a good compliment. If he doesn’t want to put in the work, then so be it. Peace out. If he thinks he’s going to get 30 min guaranteed at a program that’s on par with us, he’s dreaming.

 

[wmcovol]

The trick isn’t getting drafted. It’s getting in the league and staying several years, get a 2nd contract or more. If you bomb out after your 2nd or 3rd yr,yeah you got the money but it’s all spend by then. You end up in Europe, etc playing year to year.

Kenon & Springer may end up in the situation. If BHH doesn’t work and develop, he’ll be fortunate to get drafted. Every yr there’s dozens like him.

 

[VolinMichigan]

Yeah, The NBA only takes good attitude kids. He’ll probably end up destitute lake James Harden or DeMarcus Cousins.

BHH could only dream of being in the same galaxy as those 2. James Harden, for all his faults, can still go for 30 every game. That is a tangible skill in the NBA. Cousins had all the talent in the world, he just couldn’t put it together day in day out. The NBA is a grind. If BHH thinks more minutes is the answer instead of working on his game and doing the little things, then he’s sorely mistaken.

 

[TooLegit2Quit]

Best of luck to him. Definitely would have been interested to see the strides he would have made going into the next season. He definitely showed some flashes after Nkamhoua went down but so did Aidoo and Plavsic. Definitely going to have to bring in a big body to replace him.

 

[Sudden Impact]

Do you know many kids? I do and if you told me that BHH sent Barnes a Snapchat, I would believe it. Why would you not believe that he would call Barnes, rather than face him?
Assuming all of these rumors are true, of course.
GBO!!

I don't assume they are true.
Water over the bridge now. He's gone. Next UP.
Only reason I assume that he did not call him is out of Respect to a coach and especially to Coach Barnes.
BHH made a decision to leave and it does not matter what the circumstances are because it is done.
BHH is smart enough to go face to face vs a phone call.
On a side note, he probably was going to be a project and he was probably going to need time to develop.
A wise man once said " You are never as good as you or others think you are, but your not as bad as those think you are either"
Again, Next UP.... We need a Front line.


Added: It could have been about NIL $$$$

 

[Col_Cathcart]

I don't assume they are true.
Water over the bridge now. He's gone. Next UP.
Only reason I assume that he did not call him is out of Respect to a coach and especially to Coach Barnes.
BHH made a decision to leave and it does not matter what the circumstances are because it is done.
BHH is smart enough to go face to face vs a phone call.
On a side note, he probably was going to be a project and he was probably going to need time to develop.
A wise man once said " You are never as good as you or others think you are, but your not as bad as those think you are either"
Again, Next UP.... We need a Front line.


Added: It could have been about NIL $$$$

What makes you think that? I don’t know him one way or the other, but if the rumor is phone call I don’t have any reason to doubt that specific detail.

 

[DeepSpringsVol]

For any of the people who are brushing this off as not a big loss. Just think as a reclassified young man he was still a year away from starting his body. Yes Coach Barnes will likely retool a roster maybe not this season. However this coming year I saw BHH becoming a player who gave us 7-10 rebounds a game and maybe 6-8 points.

 

[Delmar]

LSU has some spots I am told.

So does Memphis and it wouldn’t shock me to see him end up there. One Cent has that NBA sales pitch down. And they will have lots of playing time to offer a post player.

 

[Weezer]

BHH has a ton of potential IMO, but he's just one player. You don't sacrifice team for one player. If he made a demand of guaranteed playing time, that's a huge red flag. Playing time is earned. It sucks to lose him, but in no way do I think CRB should have caved to his demands.

 

[Delmar]

You guys need to get ready for more of this. A lot of the higher level recruits have a steady stream of relatives, friends and AAU coaches in their ear. If they don’t get the playing time they expect, you’ll see them hit the portal. It’s now the way of the world. Might as well get used to it.

 

[turbovol]

What a dumb, impulsive decision. His minutes almost certainly will go up substantially next year, and so what's the point--except for getting in on the portal trend. The guy and his family are not thinking very well....

 

[WBO]

If what we heard was accurate about BHH going to CRB wanting a 30 minutes a game promise then he’s probably not worth the effort. Dude just spent an entire season in the program so he knows how it works yet he’s still wanting minutes without earning them?

It's his right to make that a condition of him staying and it's Barnes's right to say no.

Would hate to see him in either a KY or Auburn uniform.

 

[n_huffhines]

Sucks. He has real potential

 

[n_huffhines]

Maybe I’m in the minority here but I’m with you. I didn’t see the bad player some on here see. I saw youth couple with good hands, great footwork, good size, and nice touch and those are things you can’t teach. He absolutely has All-SEC potential, maybe even first round draft pick potential.

100%

 

[DuckInAPen]

Big posts are needed down low with their backs to the basket in most college programs. Almost all of them picture themselves playing on the perimeter in the NBA. Uros and Fulk bought in. Admiral didn’t at first. I don’t remember BHH battling much at all in the paint.

Your explanation seems very plausible to me.