Louisville Officially Announces Addition of Forward Brandon Huntley-Hatfield

The former Volunteer was the Cardinals' first commitment of the Kenny Payne era.

LOUISVILLE, Ky - The Louisville men's basketball program has officially added former Tennessee forward Brandon Huntley-Hatfield, as he has signed a financial aid agreement to play with the Cardinals, the program announced Thursday.

"Brandon is truly one of the most gifted young versatile forwards in college basketball," first-year head coach Kenny Payne said in a release. "He will be a great addition to the team both on and off the court. When trying to build a championship culture, it starts with people like Brandon -- high character and ultra-talented."

Huntley-Hatfield had a minor role with the Volunteers through the first three months of the 2021-22 season. However, with Olivier Nkamhoua suffering a season-ending injury, the true freshman was inserted into the starting rotation for the final 13 games of the season.

He averaged 3.9 points and 3.0 rebounds per game on 45.4 percent shooting for the entire season, but some of his better performances came in the postseason. In three SEC Tournament and two NCAA Tournament games, the freshman tallied 6.2 points and 3.2 rebounds per game while shooting 50.0 percent.

The Clarksville, Tenn. native was a five-star prospect coming out of high school, and ranked as the No. 26 player in the nation according to the 247Sports Composite. He was formerly the No. 4 player in the Class of 2022, according to ESPN, before reclassifying to 2021.

Huntley-Hatfield was the very first player to publicly announce his commitment to Louisville under Payne, doing so earlier this week. The Cardinals have just six returning players from their 2021-22 campaign: El Ellis, Sydney Curry, Mike James, Jae'Lyn Withers, J.J. Traynor and Roosevelt Wheeler.

(Photo of Brandon Huntley-Hatfield via University of Louisville Athletics)

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