From the words hot and potential hotentential basically is when someone not attractive has potential to become attractive as a result of growing up or a makeover
“That girl is so ugly”
“No if you look at her she has hotential it’s just her clothes and hair that are awful”
Commonly used to refer to a girl with whom you are considering courtship/elopement/copulation/mating/etc. Typically used by people who are less than attractive to begin with; therefore their person-of-desire is considered "prey".