Rick Barnes Talks ‘Terrific’ Brandon Huntley-Hatfield, Reclassification Process

The Clarksville native comes to Knoxville through IMG Academy, but he does so a year earlier than expected. Why?

Brandon Huntley-Hatfield made waves across college basketball when he reclassified to join Rick Barnes’ 2021 class at Tennessee.

Originally from Clarksville, Huntley-Hatfield made a name for himself at IMG Academy before deciding on the Big Orange.

Now, Barnes has offered his account on Huntley-Hatfield’s decision to reclassify and join an already-loaded 2021 unit for Tennessee.

"He has talked about it for quite some time,” Barnes said on the possibility of reclassifying. “We've been recruiting Brandon for a long time. As a chance to be a terrific player as we all know. What I love about him is that he did take his time and thought into it. Wheels were in motion a couple months ago where he might be a possibility. He knows it's going to be a challenge for him and yet he's embraced it. He did his due diligence. In terms of talking to players and wondering what it was going to be like coming in a year early.”

Barnes also addressed Huntley-Hatfield’s overall mindset, as the Clarksville native seems to hold himself to the type of standard for which Tennessee’s coach is known.

“With all that said and done, we're excited for him,” Barnes said. “He thought long and hard about it. He going to come in and get a chance to go against some good players. He has set some very high standards for himself. The one thing I love about him is how he kept talking to me about how much he wanted to be coached. How much better he wanted to be. For a young man to class up like that, it says a lot about him. We're excited because we know he has a chance to be a terrific player."