With the Associated Press All-American teams coming out on Tuesday morning, Myles Powell was able to wrap up his stellar season with a cherry on top.
Seton Hall’s superstar, although he was not named to the first, second, or third Team All-American, he was named as an honorable mention. He joins a list of just 10 other Pirates to earn the distinction.
Powell’s honor comes after he nearly single-handedly willing the Pirates to victory on multiple occasions. Whether it was capitalizing on an 18-0 run against Marquette on March 6, or hitting a three-pointer from the moon against Villanova on March 9, or any of the miraculous moments elsewhere, Powell did it all in the 2018-19 campaign.
Prior to the season, the Pirates were ranked eighth in the Big East Coaches’ Poll, which fueled Powell and subsequently the entire team. From the opening of Big East Media Day at Madison Square Garden to the final buzzer of the Big East Tournament Championship against Villanova, Powell never shied away from broaching the subject and how it provided as motivation for both himself and the team.
Even if the snub was bulletin board material, Powell certainly used the doubt cast upon his team to put together one of the best seasons in Seton Hall history.
Powell finished the campaign averaging 23.1 points in 34 games. He averaged 36 minutes per game, including efforts of 37 or more minutes down the stretch in nine of the team’s last 10 games. In the double-overtime game against Georgetown, Powell played an absurd 45 minutes.
Powell’s scoring prowess includes averaging 26 points per game in the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden. Further, despite having a slow start, Powell had 27 of Seton Hall’s 68 points in the NCAA Tournament against Wofford, good for nearly 40 percent.
Powell ultimately trailed Marquette’s Markus Howard by a slight margin in a number of categories, as Howard went on to be named to second team All-American.
Powell equally proved his worth to the country on the defensive side of the ball as well, averaging 2.0 steals per game, which was second in the Big East.
Ultimately, the award caps off a season in which the eyes of the college basketball world finally turned towards Powell. After two seasons training, learning and practicing under the guidance of Kevin Willard and his group of seniors, Powell took the step into the spotlight and was able to go toe-to-toe with some of the nation’s best scorers and defenders.
Powell has a chance to see what is out there for him in the professional basketball world, but he may still be back for the Pirates next season. He has done more than enough to earn the right to at least look at what is out there.
Powell, though, leaves behind the season with an absence of team awards. If he returns for 2019-20, that will undoubtedly be on his mind, and another All-American selection will be in the cards as well.
Kevin Kopf can be reached at kevin.kopf@student.shu.edu or on Twitter @KMKTNF.
