By ADAM ZAGORIA
MINNEAPOLIS — Seton Hall junior guard Myles Powell will enter the NBA Draft but plans to maintain his college elibigility.
Powell said he’s uncertain if he will hire an agent or not. He plans to get an evaluation from the NBA Undergraduate Advisory Committee, he told the Asbury Park Press, and must request one by April. 11.
“The new rules are that I can [hire an agent],” he told ZAGSBLOG Thursday. “The agent just has to be cleared by the NCAA and I can still come back.”
Powell has until May 29 to withdraw from the Draft.
“First off, I want to thank God for allowing to play the game of basketball that I love,” he wrote on Twitter. “I would also like to thank my coaches, teammates, and family for helping me be successful. After meeting with my family and coaches, I have decided to enter the 2019 NBA Draft with the purpose of fulfilling my life-long dream. Throughout this process, I am still able to maintain my NCAA eligibility. Thank you for your support, Go Pirates!”
If he returns for his senior season, the 6-foot-2 Powell figures to be a candidate for Big East Preseason Player of the Year — and Player of the Year — along with Marquette junior guard Markus Howard. Powell averaged 22.9 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.9 assists as the best player on a Seton Hall team that finished third in the Big East after being picked eighth. The Pirates then made a run to the Big East Tournament final at Madison Square Garden, losing to Villanova, and played in their fourth straight NCAA Tournament under coach Kevin Willard.
Asked after the NCAA Tournament loss to Wofford how good Seton Hall could be next year, he told NJ Advance Media:
“[We can be] very good. Everybody got a glimpse of what we got. We have Sandro [Mamukelashvili], he’ll be a junior, Myles Cale will be a junior, me and Quincy [McKnight], will be seniors. We have a good recruiting class coming in and we work very hard. Hard work never fails, so we’re going to take a couple of days off and we’re going to get back at it.”
Meantime, there was no immediate news on Kevin Willard’s plans, although he knows he has a very strong team coming back next year that could be a top-15 type team.
Virginia Tech is targeting Willard to replace Buzz Williams after he took the Texas A&M job.
Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter
And Like ZAGS on Facebook
