As North Carolina continues to navigate through the 2023-24 college basketball season hitting conference play, the future of the program is also in focus. And over the holiday break, one player helped improve his stock with his lay at a premier holiday tournament.
Five-star forward Drake Powell was named one of the standouts from the John Wall Holiday Invitational after Day 3 for his play. The 2024 commit is UNC’s highest-ranked prospect in the class, and has quickly ascended up the rankings after his play over the past year.
Powell ended the 2023 calendar year on a bright spot as Jamie Shaw pointed out in his Day 3 standouts on On3:
Powell is a competitive defensive player. He uses his great length and natural anticipation to beat defenders to spots and cut-off angles in the passing lanes. Offensively, he was confident in the mid-range, attacking the basket from 18 feet and drawing 14 fouls in the process. Ultimately, Powell is a winning-type player who has good things happen around him.
Powell matched up against NC State commit Paul McNeil as Northwood took down Rockingham 53-50 in the event. Powell also led all scorers with 30 points and he continues to prove that he can be an efficient scorer as well as a big plus on the defensive side of the court.
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