6’10” Voyager Academy F/C Jay Huff Commits To Virginia

Huff (Photo courtesy of Phenom Hoops Report)
Huff (Photo courtesy of Phenom Hoops Report)

Voyager Academy (Durham, N.C.) junior forward/center Jay Huff has verbally committed to the University of Virginia, Voyager Academy head coach Mike Huff – Jay’s father – has confirmed to TheSabre.com.

The younger Huff, a 6’10” prospect, recently received a scholarship offer from head coach Tony Bennett. This past Monday night, he called and accepted the offer.

“Since we went up [to UVa this past February], I think Virginia has been the number one choice in Jay’s mind. A lot of other schools were after him. We took a lot of calls. Coach Bennett came and watched him. He called Jay one night and made the offer. The Virginia coaches just did such a great job of recruiting Jay, getting to know him and building a relationship with him. I think Jay just connected with them. He took a few days to think about it, but there was really not much for him to think about. Really, Virginia is where his heart is,” Mike Huff said of his son’s decision.

“I’ve felt for a while that Virginia is probably the best place for him, just knowing him and his personality. I think what surprised me was how easy the decision was. It seemed natural to him. He never wavered from them. He’s really excited about his future there. I’m excited I get to coach him one more year in high school, but I’m also excited about his future there.”

Prior to this past week’s developments, Huff held scholarship offers from East Carolina and Wofford. Four other ACC schools — Clemson, Duke, Notre Dame and Wake Forest — were among the other schools that expressed serious interest.

UVa’s Bennett scouted Huff the weekend of April 25 and 26. Mike Huff confirmed this a few days after the fact, but at the time he said he had not spoken to Bennett about his son’s standing in terms of a scholarship offer. Obviously, the Cavaliers’ head man decided he had seen all he needed to see from the Voyager Academy big man.

What is Bennett’s vision for the 6’10” Huff?

“His vision is looking at the long term,” Mike Huff said. “There is the possibility of Jay red-shirting his first year. I think that will depend on how Jay develops between now and then. In several years, I think he’ll get a lot better. I think he has the chance to be really, really good in several years. I think that’s their vision. I’m excited about Jay’s future there.”

In an interview with TheSabre in March of this year, Mike Huff described his son’s role on a Voyager Academy squad that went 29-3 this past season. (Note that Jay is not playing on the AAU circuit in order to focus on his physical development.)

“Even though he is 6’10”, Jay has the freedom and the skill to take the ball up the court. He is one of our better 3-point shooters. His role is pretty big,” Coach Huff said. “He’s our leading scorer. He led the league in made free throws. He was the leading shot-blocker in the conference. Offensively, he had a big role scoring, but definitely he played a big role also in protecting the basket.”

Rivals has no ranking for Huff, but Scout.com and 247Sports.com both rank the rising senior forward/center as a 4-star recruit. 247Sports has Huff as the no. 58 overall player in the 2016 Class, while Scout ranks him as no. 87 overall in the 2016 Class.

Huff joins combo guard Kyle Guy, combo guard Ty Jerome and forward Sacha Killeya-Jones as commitments in Virginia’s class of 2016. As things currently stand, the Hoos have two more open scholarship spots left to use.

(Video compilation below courtesy of The Hoops Column via YouTube)