Former Kentucky high school basketball star Justin Powell will transfer to Tennessee
One of the most coveted basketball transfers this offseason — and a player closely linked to Kentucky — has picked his next school, and he won’t be playing for the Wildcats.
Former Auburn standout Justin Powell — a 6-foot-6 shooting guard from the Louisville area — announced Saturday morning that he will transfer to Tennessee and play for the Volunteers next season.
Powell was one of the first big names to hit the NCAA transfer portal, which is now up to more than 1,100 players, and he was closely linked to home-state Kentucky in the days after announcing his intentions to transfer. The likelihood of Powell ending up at UK decreased over the past week or so, culminating in his announcement Saturday that he will play for the Vols.
Earlier this week, Kentucky added a commitment from Davidson graduate transfer Kellan Grady — another highly touted shooting guard — for next season. Grady, who scored 2,002 points over four seasons at Davidson, was the nation’s No. 3 available transfer, according to a recent ranking by 247Sports. Powell was No. 8 on that list.
Powell was the No. 185 overall prospect in the 2020 class, according to the 247Sports composite rankings, after his senior season at North Oldham High School was cut short by injury. He emerged as an instant standout at Auburn, averaging 11.7 points, 6.1 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game — while shooting 44.2 percent from three-point range — over the first 10 games of the season. A concussion ended his season in early January.
Auburn also turned to Powell as its starting point guard early in the season — with star point guard recruit Sharife Cooper still awaiting a ruling on his NCAA eligibility — though Powell projects as more of an off-ball guard moving forward. He’s considered to be a possible first-round pick in the 2021 NBA Draft.
Tennessee has also signed Kennedy Chandler, a former UK recruiting target and the No. 13 overall prospect in the senior class. Chandler is arguably the best point guard recruit in the country for next season.
The NCAA is expected to announce that all transfers this offseason will be immediately eligible without sitting out for the 2021-22 school year, though Powell will still have to wait for an answer on a separate Southeastern Conference rule that prohibits players from transferring within the league and playing right away. That rule is also expected to be waived for next season, but there is no firm timetable on when that will happen.
With the recent addition of Grady — a 6-5 shooting guard and proven college scorer — it appears that Kentucky is focused more on adding a veteran point guard to next season’s backcourt, if the Cats add any more perimeter players at all.
UK has already signed highly touted point guard recruit Nolan Hickman, and freshman guards Dontaie Allen and Devin Askew are expected to return for next season. Davion Mintz, the Cats’ leading scorer and three-point shooter this past season, is still mulling a return for one more season of college basketball, and Grady should be an instant-impact guard with all-SEC potential.
This story was originally published April 3, 2021 at 10:12 AM.
