Vanderbilt lands Davidson transfer Grant Huffman

There's another one for Mark Byington.

Davidson transfer guard Grant Huffman has committed to Vanderbilt with one year of eligibility remaining.

Huffman averaged 12.8 points, 5.3 assists and 5.1 rebounds per game in 34 minutes per game in 2023-24. The 6-foot-4 guard started all 32 of Davidson's games in each of his final two seasons as a Wildcat.

The Davidson transfer played four seasons there before entering the portal on March 20th.

Huffman jumped from 9.4 points in his junior season to 12.8 points in his final season after averaging below five points per game in the first two years of his career.

It felt as if Huffman's decision came down to Vanderbilt and Minnesota, where he visited on April 12th.

Huffman is Vanderbilt's fourth transfer portal commit in addition to Virginia Tech transfers MJ Collins and Tyler Nickel as well as James Madison transfer Jaylen Carey.

Breaking down Huffman's game:

Huffman isn't a flashy pickup or one that will make national news, but he'll be one that helps Vanderbilt.

The 6-foot-4 guard's passing ability stands out, in particular. Huffman averaged 5.3 assists per game, which ranked 36th in the country. That's a result of advanced vision and manipulation ability as well as an ability to lead cutters and bigs open.

The Davidson guard also had a top 50 assist-to-turnover ratio in the country and was 28th in the country in KenPom's assist rate analytic.

Huffman will likely largely fit in to Vanderbilt's equation as a pass-first ballhandler that is capable of leading its offense.

Vanderbilt's offense will be a change as opposed to Davidson's, which had the 286th fastest tempo in the country. Huffman seems to be a fit for a faster-paced scheme, though.

The former Davidson guard was a 64th percentile transition player in 2023-24, meaning that he was better than 64 percent of players around the country in transition.

Huffman also has some history of being a capable scorer, particularly as a driver where he attempts 59% of his field goals and has some quickness and deception to his game.

The 6-foot-4 guard will likely have to be more selective in what he attempts to do around the rim as he moves up a level, but his craftiness and feel around the bucket paired with his frame provide optimism that his finish can translate.

The concern in Huffman’s game comes in his shooting, where he shot just 26.9% from 3-point range on 2.1 attempts per game in 2023-23 and 24.6% on two attempts in 2022-23.

Huffman has nice feel as a scorer out of ballscreens and has an effective floater in his arsenal, but may struggle to consistently get off clean jumpers and knock them down at the SEC level.

It also feels as if the Davidson transfer is a well-regarded on-ball defender that has some length and athleticism that can translate on that end.

Huffman was on the A10 all defensive team in the preseason this year.

Huffman isn’t Ezra Manjon, but projects to do a bit of everything for a team that needs it.

How Huffman fits:

The 6-foot-4 guard projects to be a consistent ballhandler for Vanderbilt that will likely play significant minutes alongside Virginia Tech transfer MJ Collins in the backcourt.

Whether Huffman starts or not will likely be determined by what else Vanderbilt adds in the portal, but his case to start is strong.

If Vanderbilt doesn't add another guard, Huffman projects to be the Commodores' primary ballhandler and the leader of its offensive operation as well as the head of its snake defensivley.

Huffman has also been well regarded as a leader, that trait should also translate to Vanderbilt.

Vanderbilt needed a primary ballhandler and it got one with Huffman.