A year ago at this time, you didn’t know who Jay Huff was. Heck, as the leader in North Carolina hoops we didn’t even know Jay Huff was an elite level prospect. But then something changed, he grew in both stature and confidence. And from then forward, there was no denying his status.
The turnaround started last summer at Wofford’s team camp, it was there that Huff started to show the full arsenal of what he can do. Some people compare Huff to Ryan Kelley, some people compare him to Steve Novak, his father says he likes the Mike Dunleavy Jr comparison. However, when you hear them all the comparisons look toward Huff’s offensive game. However, none of them take into account his greatest strength, defensive timing.
Jay Huff played against some elite level talent this year including, NC State commitment Shaun Kirk, National Top 10 ranked 2016 Edrice Adebayo, and fellow UVa commitment Sacha Killeya-Jones. The take away from all of those game was that Jay Huff has a high level ability to protect the rim.
The first thing you notice about Huff is his stature, he has wing span of 7’2” and a very slender frame. After watching him at the 2014 Fall NC Phenom 150 camp, Hoopseen.com Senior Analyst Justin Young stated, “Huff will quickly become a more intriguing player on the recruiting front. At 185 pounds, he needs to add more bulk and strength.”
But as soon as the ball is tipped you cannot help but notice the skill level that he possesses. Throughout the course of a game, you see Huff handling the ball in the half court, shooting from well beyond the 3-point arc, and finishing way above the rim off a low post move. Unique is a great word to use for his skill set. After watching Huff at the 2014 Fall NC Phenom 150 camp 247 Sports Director of Basketball Scouting Jerry Meyer stated, “Huff, is a bouncy, sharp shooting 6-10, 180-pound power forward. Huff’s tremendous shooting ability at 6-10 makes NBA player Steve Novak come to mind. Although extremely thin, Huff is an aggressive and mobile player who moves his feet. In fact, in 11 years in this business haven’t seen many shooters like 2016 6-10 Jay Huff.”
With all his talent and his skill, it cannot go without notice of how Huff utilized the Phenom Hoops Platform. Justin Young wrote,“Since the camp, Virginia has been in to see him, according to reports” Huff’s father, and high school coach Mike Huff stated (as we exchanged texts after his commitment), “I’m actually blaming you for all this attention. No one knew who Jay was until he played at your event last fall and you started writing all those nice things about him.”
As for what is next for Jay Huff, “I’m really excited, but I got exams coming up this week.” He is also a 4.0 student.