Georgia basketball has hired longtime College of Charleston coach JD Powell to come join Tom Crean’s staff in Athens.
Powell has been on staff at College of Charleston for the last seven years and will replacing Jake Thelan as the director of recruiting and operations. Powell spent the last two seasons as associate head coach in Charleston.
Powell has over two decades of collegiate coaching experience, and will be coaching outside of South Carolina for the first time in his career.
Powell’s coaching history:
Furman (2002-04)
Charleston Southern (2004-10)
The Citadel (2010-14)
College of Charleston (2014-21).
“I am very excited to join Coach Crean and the Georgia Basketball family,” Powell said. “It is a tremendous opportunity to learn and grow in a tremendous program and the nation’s best basketball conference. Our family cannot wait to be a part of the UGA and Athens community.”
While at College of Charleston, Powell helped the Cougars to 92 wins in four years and saw NBA Draft selections in both 2019 and 2020.
Crean on Powell:
“J.D. Powell brings a wealth of experiences and responsibilities into our recruiting and operations director position,” Crean added. “His organizational abilities, coaching and recruiting acumen and passion, energy and work ethic really stood out to me. Again, like Wade Mason, he comes recommended from people I’ve worked with and people I respect. He will bring a vast background into our program and we are excited about it. We also welcome Kerri and their three boys, Jack, Tucker and Hampton, to UGA and the Athens community.”