Auburn transfer Justin Powell commits to Tennessee
(Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images)
Auburn transfer Justin Powell will not be a Kentucky Wildcat. Instead, the former North Oldham star will head to Knoxville to play for Rick Barnes at Tennessee.
After entering the transfer portal back on March 9, Powell announced this morning that he will be committing to Tennessee.
rocky top?? pic.twitter.com/DajU3q6tJC
— Justin Powell (@jtpowell241) April 3, 2021
After weeks of speculation that Powell favored Kentucky and would likely commit with an offer, that scholarship reportedly never came, with KSR’s own Matt Jones writing late last night that Tennessee was the new favorite and an announcement was on the horizon.
The chatter around Oldham County is that Justin Powell was not offered by Calipari and will pick Tennessee very soon
Not sure if Oldham County knows, but they do have a train running through downtown LaGrange and I almost was killed there while shooting a legal commercial
— Matt Jones (@KySportsRadio) April 3, 2021
Powell, a 6-foot-6 guard originally out of Prospect, KY, averaged 11.7 points on 42.9% shooting and 44.2% from three to go with 6.1 rebounds and 4.7 assists per contest for the Tigers. His freshman campaign was limited to just ten games due to a concussion that held him out of competition since January 2.
Out of high school, the former in-state standout originally chose Auburn over offers from Cincinnati, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech and Xavier, along with interest from Kentucky, Ohio State, Purdue and Syracuse. He was rated as a four-star prospect by ESPN and a three-star prospect by 247Sports and Rivals.
As a senior at North Oldham, Powell was tabbed all-state and all-league after averaging 24.7 points on 59% shooting to go with 8.7 rebounds per game.
With Powell now headed to Kentucky’s conference rival, John Calipari will continue to explore his point guard options in the transfer portal.
53 Comments for Auburn transfer Justin Powell commits to Tennessee
If he lights us up and helps UT keeo beating us, Cal will never hear the end of it.
Why not offer the kid? Not like we couldnt use his 3 pt shooting. Cal better get back to winning or this one will be a bad look.
If Mintz returns we have three guys at pg. and at 6′ 1″ Powell would have a harder time shifting over to the two in my opinion.
Says hes 6’6 lol
As the dominoes fall….Getting Grady sealed it for Powell. I wish him well (except twice a year). We need confirmations from those still contemplating a return or not…. and a pg.
Correct. Cal haters will lose their minds over this situation. I’m certainly not a Cal apologist, but sometimes things work out like we want them to, but sometimes they don’t.
Well said! You can’t get them all and honestly after this season it is very apparent getting the right point guard for Cal’s system means everything. Prior to the season could anyone have named one player beside Juzang on UCLA and look at them now.
TMC, probably right re Grady, along with Mintz possibly returning….IMO Cal doesn’t want another instate kid unless he is 100% positively sure plenty of minutes await.
Chris Lofton 2.0
Perfect comparison. Tubby’s failure to recruit Lofton was his Waterloo
Tubby’s failure to recruit overall was his Waterloo. Of Joe Crawford, Ramel Bradley and Rondo, which of those do you drop in favor of Lofton without the benefit of hindsight? Plus, we already had Patrick Sparks at that position as well.
For Powell’s future and getting playing time, he made the right choice. He will scorch UK. . Barnes is no coaching genius but he does get his team ready to play UK.
Would have liked to have had Powell, but keep in mind it was only a 10 game sample size. The kid from Davidson is a 4 year sample and he averaged 16+ points or better all 4 years. He is a better overall player and I do not think anyone would deny that. Well except the ones who have this dream of ALL KY boys on the team.
Yep
I do agree for next year he is the better option. That said Powell could have been here for three years if my math is right. I think that should be taken into consideration. I don’t have a problem either way though.
Cal knows what he is doing. If this kid could help, he would have gotten him. UT come on?
Does he? 9-16 and no PG.
He was not a good fit as he prefers to stand for the National Anthem.
Ouch, this hurts.
If Mintz comes back, we’ll be fine. I’ll take the trio of Mintz, Allen and Grady over anyone else.
No way for Cal to win with Ky kids unless they are can’t miss, lottery picks.
Sign a Ky kid and he fails,Cal is vilified. Sign a Ky kid and he sits, Cal is vilified. Don’t sign a Ky kid that is not good enough for Ky’s level, and Cal is vilified.
The fake Ky fans, actual haters , and band wagon jumpers,are drooling right now,over this announcement.
Well said
He’s shown he’s good enough. And we have no PG.
No big loss
Tennessee has been better than us…certainly head to head…in recent years. If he’s good enough for Tennessee why is he not good enough for us. Actually Auburns been better recentky too. If he’s good enough for Auburn why’s he not good enough for us? Must be because he’s one of us. Thats how John Calipari rolls!
Wish him the best. Cal must have better options or he would have offered. GO CATS!!!!
A bird in the hand (Grady) is worth 2 in the bush. We’ve seen what happens when we go all in on a guy who’s supposedly a lock and then fate or a bag of money intervenes and we’re left scrambling for a Quade Green caliber player or a reclassified HS kid. Take the kid who can play and wants to be here.
makeitstop, Probably be that way moving forward. The GLeague/pro option no doubt makes it very difficult for college coaches to zero in on the very best prospects.
At least he’ll learn from another coach how to inbound the basketball, something he wouldn’t learn here.
Please, we don’t have a problem there, u evidently watch someone else and u r unhappy all the time so go pull for UL they’ve got it going on for fans like u
Is the SEC going to allow the inter conference transfer?
It would be helpful to know why Cal didn’t offer Powell. Some insider information is needed. Silence feeds the narrative that Cal let another top player slip through his fingers.
Read TheMaxCat’s comment below. No insider info needed, just the simple facts of the matter.
We shouldn’t be surprised should we?
No Lip we shouldn’t. The odds were against him from the beginning. First he was born in Kentucky. Second it was known he wanted to come to Kentucky and third he would’ve very likely been in our program for more than one year. STIIIIIIIIRIKE THREEEEEE!!!!!
You guys make a good comedy team.
Cal didn’t offer Powell because he didn’t need a 3rd 2 guard @ 6’5, 6’6. He already has Grady and Allen and he’s not the type pg we need. He’s not a penetrator or creator. We might be starting a 5th yr. and 6th yr. backcourt in Mintz and Grady with Askew and Allan as backups along with Hickman. A 3rd 6’5 guard isn’t as desirable as a pg that can brings some quicks and break down defenses. Not knowing if Mintz/Brooks/Jackson are staying or going and not knowing what the SEC will do in terms as the transfer rule are hindering us as well. Tn is losing Springer and Johnson and probably Baily so Barnes had that need to fill. It’s unfortunate but a good decision by all.
I believe Cal is confident that Mintz will return, and offering Powell could derail that. I mean who would you rather have — a 5 th year senior combo guard that had a year in the program or another guard only proven by playing ten games ?
As TMC said Powell is
not the type PG that Ky needs for next season. I also believe that the PG at Minnesota, if he does not go pro, and some other PG’s that are going into the portal but have not yet announced are involved,in the decision not to make the offer to Powell.
TMC, seen PG Hickman kid couple of times on TV and he looks to be penetrate/pass first PG. Cal may want a little less flash if TOs become a problem. If Grady went elsewhere, then kid from Auburn might have been an option IMO. I bet Cal leery of any instate kid going forward unless he is sure big minutes are available. It is a difficult situation for the kid/family AND Cal if instate kid (according to BBN) not getting legit chance at minutes.
COIULD BE Cal knows Mintz is coming back. Maybe ???
No reason to not even offer him. If mintz is not coming back this will be a very dumb move.
What it does as much as anything is help facilitate the continual turnover and lack of continuity within the roster. So even if Mintz comes back after next year he and Grady will be gone and we would have Askew Hickman and Allen Be nice to have Powell coming back with a year under his belt. And that’s assuming the three I named all return. I’m in to roster building and roster continuity. I thought you couldn’t have enough good shooters. Powell is the only name mentioned that’s shot 40+% from the three point line.
Powell shot well in 10 games….
It’s a great point, 4everUKBlue. Powell has played in 10 college games, and shot 40 pct. Mintz (I have to assume Cal knows he is returning) has played in 122 college basketball games. Let’s see how he shot in any random 10 games. Lets just take his last 10:
Seems Mintz shot 32 / 77 from 3-pt range over his last 10 games, that rounds off to 42%. That’s pretty good, huh?
You all make good comments in both sides of this issue. I think the whole “state” of college basketball has coaches in this zone of uncertainty; hence, Roy deciding forget this stuff. Cal has to figure out his new strategy quickly given the consumption of some good will this past season. That Davidson kid is a good start. Perhaps Powell would have helped, too. I just hope it’s not Chris Lofton v2!
I’m trying to figure out if Cal has a new strategy. Looking like “meet the new boss…same as the old boss” to me.
Kat, could the new strategy be kinda like the new offense Cal studied last summer while watching NBA games and we were going to be thrilled about ? Inset laughy face here…
Yep, he must figure it out for sure
Hate to lose his to Tennessee. Was he a left or right guard? Not sure which side “point” is.
😉
Even with Mintz back we still lack that dynamic PG needed to win a championship
Even with Powell and Mintz, we still lack that dynamic PG needed to win a championship. Signing him doesn’t change that.
So what happened to no intraconference transfers? They just hoping the SEC grants a waiver?
Exactly RG, as of right now, he’ll be sitting next year. I guess everyone forgot about the SEC rule.
They’ll change it this month most likely.