Louisville Transfer Puts Pitt in Final Four

The Pitt Panthers made the cut for a massive transfer target from Louisville.

Stephen Thompson | Apr 2, 2024

Feb 17, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Louisville Cardinals forward Brandon Huntley-Hatfield / Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers are making progress in pursuit of one of the best big men available in the transfer portal this offseason.

Former Louisville Cardinals center Brandon Huntley-Hatfield has provided another update on his recruitment, announcing on Twitter that Pitt is among his top four schools alongside UConn, NC State and a return to Louisville.

A final decision will likely take more time for Huntley-Hatfield to arrive at. He still has an official visit to Pitt planned for mid-April and could want to check out campus before making a final decision. He took a trip to NC State over the weekend.

Huntley-Hatfield's transfer follows the firing of head coach Kenny Payne, who went 12-22 during his two seasons leading the Cardinals. He was one of the few bright spots for those teams, averaging 12.3 points and 8.4 rebounds per game while making 57% of his field goals and 42% of his 3-points, albeit on very limited attempts, during the 2023-24 season.

Huntley-Hatfield, who was ranked as highly as a five-star prospect by 247Sports and ESPN, played his high school ball at Scotland Campus Prep, located about two and a half hours by car from Pittsburgh. On3 and 247Sports considered him the No. 1 player in Pennsylvania in the class of 2021 and he held offers from Tennessee, Kentucky, Memphis, Baylor, Florida State, Kansas and others.

The Panthers lost starting center Federiko Federiko to the transfer portal and a player like Huntley-Hatfield, who stands 6'10 and weighs 240 pounds, could give them the kind of muscle on the inside that they missed sorely last season.

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Published Apr 2, 2024

STEPHEN THOMPSON

Stephen Thompson graduated with a bachelor's degree in communications and political science from Pitt in April 2022 after spending four years as a sports writer and editor at The Pitt News, the University of Pittsburgh's independent, student-run newspaper. He primarily worked the Pitt men's basketball beat, and filled in on coverage of football, volleyball, softball, gymnastics and lacrosse, in addition to other sports as needed. His work at The Pitt News has won awards from the Pennsylvania News Media Association and Associated College Press. During the spring and summer of 2021, Stephen interned for Pittsburgh Sports Now, covering baseball in western Pennsylvania. Hailing from Washington D.C., family ties have cultivated a love of Boston's professional teams and Pitt athletics, and a fascination with sports in general. You can reach Stephen by email at stephenethompson00@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter. Read his latest work: