Honor Bound: UTC’s Huff Intent On Fulfilling His Childhood Promise

Webster’s dictionary defines the word “honor” as follows:

Noun: high respect; great esteem; adherence to what is right

Verb: regard with great respect; fulfill an obligation

Now imagine spending your entire life trying to live up to a name bestowed upon you with a sense of intentionality by your parents, a unique moniker that brings with it a certain level of expectations.

Such is the story of Honor Huff, a junior guard with the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

The responsibility of carrying this name would crush lesser men. But for Huff, it serves as the guiding principle of his life that he embraces with gusto. He has spent his life trying to quieten the doubters, following a winding path that eventually led him to Chattanooga where he has not only flourished on the basketball court, but in life.

Nothing has come easy for the son of Carlton Huff and Abigail Liddell. But they saw something special when anointing their son with the name Honor.

“My parents have never been able to agree about who came up with the name,” Huff said. “So, it's kind of a back-and-forth thing, but they both came to a consensus that they wanted to name me something I had to live up to. Honor means a lot of different things, but it's a noble kind of word. It is something that I’ve had to live up to in being an honorable person.”

Huff has carried that name with pride at each stop of his life journey. He emerged from the playgrounds of Brooklyn to attend four different high schools in Pennsylvania before landing at VMI for one season prior to joining UTC coach Dan Earl in his migration to Chattanooga.

Each of these chapters helped mold and shape him, starting with his childhood in Brooklyn that started in the Bed-Stuy community before moving out to Canarsie. He earned a reputation as a diminutive baller on the highly-competitive New York playgrounds, known then as the son of “Two-Percent”, the name given to his father who played collegiately at Long Island University and was well-known in the on the blacktop hoops circuit.

He was comfortable living in the shadows for a while, content being known simply as “Two-Percent’s son”. He was admittedly shy in his younger years, and lacked confidence in his game. But his father had the presence of mind to cast a greater vision for Honor. There is a code that governs the street ball culture and it was time for the younger Huff to make his presence known and his voice heard in demanding playing time on his own during pick-up games.

“He told me, ‘Sooner or later, you need to make a name for yourself. You can't always come to the park with me where they know me and, because of that, you're good. You’re going to have to step up,’” Huff said. “So that day, he just said it was up to me to call ‘next’ to be able to get on the court. He wasn’t going to get ‘next’ for me any longer. If I didn't call it, then I wouldn’t play.

Demanding playing time as a pre-teen surrounded by players several years older served as a rite of passage for Huff. It was an early opportunity for him to live up to his name.

“Obviously I love the game and I wanted to play,” Huff said. “So, it was kind of a moment of truth for myself to step up and be like, ‘You know what? I'm going to call ‘next’. I'm going to show confidence in myself and in my game.’ I had a lot of doubts and emotions at the time. But at the end of the day, I think he did a great job of building my confidence up within little moments like that.”

After playing as an eighth-grader on his school’s freshman team in Brooklyn, Huff moved to Pennsylvania to live with his father entering high school, a sacrifice made by his mother in hopes of allowing her son to flourish both in the classroom and in basketball.

The next five years were a whirlwind for Huff as he matriculated to four different schools near Bethlehem. A short stint at Bethlehem Catholic ended with broken promises over playing time, so Huff enrolled at Executive Education Academy Charter School. Since the school didn’t have a basketball team, he was allowed to play for nearby Dieruff High where he averaged 20 points per game on the JV team as a freshman while providing meaningful contributions for the varsity squad.

Two years later he averaged 23 points his junior season at Dieruff, but Huff still wasn’t getting much attention from college coaches. The decision was made to transfer to a well-respected prep school, Perkiomen. He reclassified to repeat his junior year and moved into the dorms, leading the team in scoring before losing in the state semifinals.

With his career trending upward and gaining some interest from colleges, Huff averaged 22.5 points his senior year as Perkiomen was ranked No. 25 in the nation. But his chance at a state championship was wiped out because of COVID. He committed to Earl’s VMI squad in December, one of the few schools who continued to pursue him. Despite his chaotic high school years, Huff is thankful for the journey.

“It's actually funny. I loved my high school experience,” Huff said. “I got to go to four completely different high schools. I went to a Catholic school, a charter school, a public school, and then I went to a private boarding school. So, I went to literally four completely different high schools. I think it gave me an experience that some kids don't really get. I got to see different environments and experiences within those four high schools. So, you know, I'm very thankful for those moments, believe it or not.”

His arrival at VMI, though, served as a culture shock starting with his first military haircut the day he arrived. He and Trey Bonham formed a potent backcourt combination, and Huff enjoyed success on the hardwood with the Keydets, averaging 15.6 points per game and earning a spot on the Southern Conference All-Freshman team. Although life away from basketball took its toll on his joy, he continued to live up to his name.

“VMI was 20 times harder than what I thought it would be,” Huff said. “I got through it with the people surrounding me, like my best friend Cooper Cisco. He’s still at VMI and he is someone I cherish. It’s the people around you who get you through VMI. I think that's why they call it ‘brother rats’. I have friends that don't even play a sport, and we're very close because of the shared experiences and helping each other survive.”

While Huff now has a different perspective in looking back on his time at VMI, he also seized the opportunity to transfer following his freshman year when he found out the news that Earl had accepted the UTC helm.

“It's funny because we didn't really know Coach Earl was leaving until we found out on social media,” Huff said. “But we weren't even mad at him for that. We were actually kind of happy that he was leaving, because it was kind of like a breath of fresh air. We felt like we had the autonomy to leave without it being disrespectful to VMI. My dad was always big on ‘you’ve got to finish what you started.’ I would have felt bad if I just left because of the military stuff because they had given me a chance when a lot of schools didn’t. So, when he left, my eyes kind of lit up like it wouldn’t be frowned upon.”

Bonham transferred to Florida, while Huff joined Earl and Jake Stephens in the move to Chattanooga. Because Stephens was a graduate student, he was granted immediate eligibility. However, the Southern Conference was the only league that would not allow underclassmen to transfer to another member school without sitting out a year, forcing Huff to delay his debut with the Mocs. But as usual, he handled it with the dignity found in his name.

“I think choosing to come to Chatt regardless of knowing I would have to sit out is up there with me transferring to my private boarding school in high school,” Huff said. “Those were the two biggest and best decisions in terms of my career athletically that I've ever made in my life. Being able to hone my skills a little bit more, seeing what I had to learn at the Division I level and applying that to my workouts that year was the best thing that could have happened to me. I don't think I would have been where I'm at right now without that year.”

Once Huff embarked on his sophomore campaign, he was reunited with Bonham, who had joined the Mocs after one season at Florida. The dynamic duo became one of the most lethal guard pairings in the country as Huff finished the season averaging 17.4 points per game and earned second team All-Conference laurels.

“I had a tremendous year last year, which showed the growth and preparation it took with my sitting out to get there,” Huff said. “I'm glad they stuck by me through it all, and worked me out all the time and were hard on me like I was playing.”

Huff had no intention to seek greener pastures following the season. But when Bonham opted to test the waters of the transfer portal before choosing to remain at UTC, it left Huff confused as to his next move. So, he consulted his father and his high school coach for wisdom.

“Both of them agreed I should stay at UTC,” Huff said. “They reminded me that these coaches have been with me from the start, and that I’ve proven I can be a great player in this league. Why leave now? My dad reminded me that my name means integrity, so there was no thought of entering the portal.”

With Chattanooga dropping its first three contests to open the season and now sitting at 9-7 overall and 1-2 in SoCon play as they take on Huff’s former program VMI at McKenzie Arena on Sunday at noon, this year has not unfolded in the manner he had envisioned. The roster was completely transformed with five new transfers, and some early season injuries slowed the Mocs putting all the moving pieces into place. Even the usually-reliable Huff has encountered some struggles during the early portion of the season.

He is averaging 11.7 points per game thus far, but is only shooting at a 37% clip from the field and 36% from 3-point range. Last year he scored in double figures the final 22 games, failing to do so in only two of 33 games. Thus far this season, Huff has failed to reach double digits in seven of 16 games.

There have been glimmers of his past wizardry like when he reeled off three straight games with more than 20 points including the loss at Indiana. During that stretch, Huff connected on 18 of 33 3-pointers with six made treys in each contest. But since then, he had been limited to a total of 17 points through the first three conference games.

It’s not like the 5-foot-10 Huff hasn’t flourished while on the court. With Frank Champion and Bash Wieland presenting offensive options on the interior and with others able to carry some of the scoring load, Huff’s contributions are being felt outside of the point totals. But it has still been somewhat of an adjustment.

“Some people who don't really watch the games text me or call me to ask what’s going on with my scoring,” Huff said. “It's kind of a shock to them, which, at the beginning, was kind of a shock to me too. I'm being honest with you - my first couple games where I was struggling, it was mind-boggling what was going on. But I think as time has passed, I've learned to play within the game and take what they're giving me.”

Mercer essentially ran a box-and-one defensively trying to deny Huff the ball. But he has found other ways to contribute to the team’s success while remaining engaged in seeking opportunities to provide offensive production as Mocs are still a work in progress on both ends of the floor.

“It comes down to me figuring out what I can do to help the team win at that point,” Huff said. “I think that shows my character as a player, that it’s not all about the points. And I think Coach Earl and people who know the game understand that’s big for a person to accept. It's okay if I impact us winning with five assists and no turnovers, because I might score 25 the next game. Whatever the game presents, I think I have to be able to step up either way it goes on both sides of the ball.”

The ongoing maturation of Huff has allowed him to begin to measure his performance by a different metric.

“I think last year I would have been forcing up more shots, which obviously isn’t the best mindset,” Huff said. “But as I’ve matured and understand the goals of the team, I just want to win a championship. I’ll do whatever it takes to accomplish that goal. I’m excited to just keep going with this group.”

Huff is scheduled to complete his undergraduate degree in May, and will spend his senior year pursuing an MBA degree. While dreams of playing in the NBA still occupy his thoughts, he has already formulated a fallback plan in case professional basketball isn’t part of his future.

“Let's say the NBA doesn't work out for me. What else am I good at?” Huff said. “I'm good at talking. I can advocate for myself in many different areas. Have a great vocabulary and I love talking about sports no matter what it is. I'm not too tuned in with hockey, but I'm just a good sports talker. So, I definitely just gravitated towards watching ESPN and Stephen A. Smith. He’s from New York, too, so I would love to just argue with him and get my points across because some of his points I question all the time. I’m passionate about my beliefs and I would love to debate Stephen A. before he retires.”

But before Huff becomes a talking head on TV, he’s got some unfinished business at UTC. His effervescent personality and engaging smile are well suited for whatever path he takes. But there is one thing for certain as he completes his Mocs career and beyond - he will carry himself with honor.

After all, it’s his name. And he’s been doing it for his entire life.

Paul Payne can be emailed at paulpayne6249@gmail.com