Northwood basketball star Drake Powell talks recruitment, UNC visit

It has been a busy summer for Northwood junior boys basketball player Drake Powell.

Powell spent past of the summer playing as a member of Team CP3 in the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL) along with some of the nation’s other top prospects. He’s also been racking up scholarship offers from several Division-I schools.

According to 247Sports, Powell has received offers from Appalachian State, Wake Forest, VCU, Texas A&M, Tennessee, N.C. State, Miami, LSU, Georgia, Florida State, Cincinnati and North Carolina.

Powell took his first official visit to UNC last Tuesday. The Tar Heels are still looking to sign their first player from the Class of 2024. The 6-foot-5 wing is considered the No. 58 overall player in the Class of 2024 by 247Sports’ composite rankings. He is also ranked as the No. 5 player from North Carolina in the class.

Powell burst onto the scene as a freshman in 2021, helping lead Northwood to the 3A state final while averaging 11.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 2.3 steals per game. Last year, Powell took over as the team’s primary scorer and upped his averages to 16.1 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.6 steals per game while leading the Chargers back to the fourth round of the state playoffs.

Powell spoke with the N+R on Monday about his ongoing recruitment, his expectations for the upcoming season and much more.

It has been a pretty busy summer for you. You’re competing with your AAU team and you have started to get a lot of offers from Division-I schools. How crazy has it been to go through all this?

DRAKE POWELL: It’s been a little crazy, or hectic. But I have my parents in my corner guiding me along the way. I’m really just trying to enjoy the process.

You took your first official visit to UNC last week. How did that go? Have they talked about what they want you to be, position-wise?

I thought it was pretty cool. The presentation they had for me was set up well. Nothing seemed scripted. I just felt like this was the everyday life being a player in the UNC basketball program. They have talked to me about my role, but they presented it to me as more positionless than anything else.

Being able to be positionless is becoming a more important part of modern basketball. How important is it to be multi-faceted on the court?

I think it’s very important to be good at a lot of things. That can separate you from the next guy. Defense is something I try to do my best at. I’m always telling myself that defense is really just pride. I’ve got to make my opponent make a really tough play. If he does, hats off to him.

You guys have gotten to at least the fourth round of the playoffs the past two years. What’s it going to take for the team to get over the hump this season? What are some of the things you’ve tried to work on in your individual game?

I think really it’ll be attention to detail. We also need to trust each other, ourselves and the coaches. I’m trying to really improve on everything, but the main things are really my 3-point shot, my ball-handling and my defense. I’ve also been working on getting stronger, as well.

Your former teammate, Jarin Stevenson, is now at Seaforth. Is there a friendly rivalry there? What do you like about his game?

Not really. I think Jarin and I are both quiet individuals, but we respect each other’s game. I like that he’s able to handle to ball at 6-foot-10. He can also shoot the ball really well and he can dominate in the paint as well.