Basketball Offseason: Looking at the ‘24-’25 Bigs

Key Dates for Men’s Basketball

• June 24 – Start of 2nd summer session – Paul McNeil joins team for offseason skills training and S&C workouts (he’s here!, we have pictures)
• June 25 – Black Tuesday – Rice & Ross depart
• August 19 – First day of classes, fall semester – Ismael Diouf officially joins the team
• September 23 – Official Start of Practice (approximate) (42 days before 1st regular season game, depends on when that first game is actually scheduled)
• November 4 – Season Officially Starts

As June winds to a close, this is the final article in a series looking at expectations for the men’s basketball team next season.

Previous Articles

• Looking at the ‘24-’25 Guards
• What to Expect from the Freshman Class this Season
• Looking at the ‘24-25 Wings
• Looking at the ‘24-25 Bigs

This article focuses on our bigs.

I’ve grouped the team into guards – those expected to primarily play the 1 and/or 2 positions, wings – those expected to primarily play the 3 and/or 4 positions, and the bigs. There are obviously blurred lines across these groupings, but it’s a way to start the conversation.

The Big Men Options

As far as the bigs go this season, we’re going to have two options. We’ll occasionally see ‘Brandon and Ben’ alternating with ‘Brandon or Ben.’

The AND option – Ben really wants time at the 4, so I would expect to see him there a bit more often this season alongside Brandon. That’s a couple of really big men playing together. Both are athletic, will defend well, and will score. But it’s not option #1. You don’t want to risk both getting into foul trouble. How often we see them play together will depend a lot on whether or not we have a reliable third option. TBD

The OR option – That will be our primary look. There will be little, if any, drop-off when Ben subs for Brandon. Dontrez Styles will probably start at the 4. He is a very good player and should be one of our best on the floor most nights. Dennis Parker Jr played the 4 a lot last season, this could be a good season for him as well. Both are big, powerful players who defensively will be able to handle both the switch onto the ball and defend a big at the basket. And offensively, they can hit the jumper from outside or inside, and take it to the rim with authority.

Brandon Huntleigh-Hatfield – Brandon has the best resume of any player Coach Keatts has successfully recruited as a head coach, transfer or high school recruit and has a chance to be the best all-around center he has had. Coming out of high school Rivals ranked him 26th (4 stars), 247 ranked him 24th (5 stars), and ESPN lists him as 21st in their top 100 (5 stars). Coming out of Louisville he was the 26th ranked player in the portal. The staff had to replace fan favorite DJ Burns, one of the more significant players in recent Pack history and did an excellent job.

Brandon played his freshman season for Rick Barnes at Tennessee and then was new coach Kenny Payne’s first recruit at Louisville. He was an immediate starter, starting 53 of his 56 games played (he missed 8 as a sophomore due to a foot injury) for the Cardinals. He led the team in rebounding both seasons. As a junior he had 20 games of 10+ points, including six games of 20 points or more. And he had 12 games of 10+ rebounds, with eight double-double games.

Offensively, he can do it all. When O’Connell gets the ball to him in the paint, he will be money. DJ Burns shot 53.1% from the field, Huntley-Hatfield shot 56.7%. (However, 158 fewer attempts) He’s got the bulk to force himself into position close to the rim, he’s got the height to shoot over defenders, he can score with the hook, and he’s got that short fade away we loved from Big 30. He has good hands, is comfortable going left or right, and runs the PnR well.

And to ice the cake, every now and then when the mood strikes, he’ll take a 3PT shot. He only tried 21 attempts last season (career high), but he hit 42.9%. (career high) Take the over on his 3PT attempts this season.

He was 5^th in the ACC in rebounding at 8.4 last season, he is a solid offensive rebounder as well (5th ACC), he pulled in 84 last season about the same as the Pack’s best – Middlebrooks (82).

Defensively – He ranked 18th in the ACC in blocked shots. Importantly, he’s got the quickness and length to prevent guards from driving past him to the rim when defending away from the basket. And he’s that rare center who doesn’t get called for many fouls. He averaged 2.98 per 40 minutes played. He will definitely be an upgrade defensively.

BHH started every game and averaged 30.8 mins for Louisville last season, and I would expect exactly the same here. Except, Ben is so good Brandon isn’t going to have to play that many minutes. If these guys can both stay healthy, the Pack is going to be as good as anyone at center.

Career Highs: Points 29, assists 4, rebounds 14, steals 2

Photo by Justin K. Aller/NCAA Photos via Getty Images

Ben (buzz cut alert!) Middlebrooks – I believe Big Ben will be the first off the bench at the 4 and the 5. He had the best season of his career this year. He played the most games, averaged the most minutes, had his highest scoring and rebounding averages, had his only double-double, had his highest individual scoring and rebounding games, and hit his only 3PT shot of his career. And in the most important moment of his career, he STEPPED UP. In the first game of the NCAAT against Texas Tech, DJ Burns got in foul trouble and only played 16 minutes, Ben played 23 minutes, scored his career high 21 points, shot 6-8 FG and 9-10 FT, had 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 blocks and 2 steals. Ben gives us the opportunity to play two 6’10” 240 guys at the same time without a major sacrifice in offense or defense. We will see that lineup this season, and our opponents are not going to like it. I expect Ben to have his best season ever.

Areas for improvement: Fouling – Ben averages 6.7 fouls per 40 minutes. (for you non-statisticians, that’s a wee bit high) He comes from a long history of Wolfpack centers who pick up their first foul during warmups. I like the fact that he likes to play physically, and he defends well, but he needs to dial it down a little this season.

Career Highs: Points 21, assists 3, rebounds 11, steals 3

Ismael Diouf – Monsieur Diouf, who is French-Canadian from Quebec. grew up hoping to play D1 ball in the States but had no offers after high school so spent his first two seasons of college ball near home, at Laval University.

He comes to us from the CEBL, the Canadian Elite Basketball League which promotes itself as the “premier men’s professional basketball league as recognized by Canada Basketball”. (sorry Raptors) After his two seasons at Laval, he was selected as the Montréal Alliance’s first overall pick in the 2024 CEBL Draft in April. However, he only played in 4 games of their 20 game regular season (which is still in progress), played 38 total minutes and totaled 10 points. He was a developmental player on that team and did not sign a contract. I’m going to focus on the statistics from his most recent full season (‘23-’24), his sophomore season at Laval University in Quebec City.

His team, Laval Rouge et Or, (the ‘red & gold’ – a short walk to the ‘red & white’) were only 8-9 on the season, so not expected to do well in the tournament, but they won it.

“The Final 8 tournament was a coming out party for the 21-year-old sophomore. After finishing with a dominant 26 PTS (11-15 FG, 3-4 3P) 12 REB and 4 BLK performance in the finals, Diouf was awarded the Jack Donohue Trophy as the USPORTS Championship MVP. At 6’9″ he is a strong, physical bruising big who can protect the rim but also showed mobility and touch that is rare for a USPORTS big.”

He was also named to the all tournament team, as well as the All-Rookie team his freshman season.

Watching his highlights you see an left-handed, athletic, big man with a lot of potential. He has good hands, a college ready body, runs well, and offensively seems comfortable inside and outside. He makes me think more of Styles’ play than Middlebrooks or Huntley-Hatfield, but it’s just a highlight reel. But he too might be an option at the 4. If you look at his season stats, he is a good shooter, 56% / 32.7% / 72.3%. He shot 41-125 (32.8%) from 3PT for his two-year career at Laval, so he’s legit from outside. (for comparison, Middlebrooks and Huntley-Hatfield together total 71 career 3PT attempts, 17 made)

Quotes from his interview with Pack Pride

“I’ve watched films of Diarra and what he was doing on the court and how they use him,” Diouf said. “I have pretty much the same type of play. My style would fit really well with the team. I could do the same thing with them. … I can shoot. I love to pass the ball. I rebound the ball really well. I’m really versatile. I can do a little bit of everything.

“I also love defense, I love to challenge myself to stop every player that comes by.”

And from The Wolfpacker interview, “I want to work. I know the coaches will be there to help me work and to help me go to the next level. I know the team will compete every day in practice and try to win. I hate losing, so I’m going to give it everything I’ve got every day to make sure I don’t lose.”

Although he will have missed the entire Wolfpack summer skills & S&C program, he did practice and train with the Montreal Alliance pro team. So, he hasn’t just been sitting around eating poutine, he should be in decent shape.

Career Highs: Points 26, assists 4, rebounds 13, steals 2

The big question is – as it is with Marcus Hill and our two incoming freshmen – will his experience translate to the ACC? And assuming it will (trust in the staff!), how soon?

Looking ahead to the 2025-2026 Season: Only Ismael Diouf (one more season) will have eligibility remaining.