Before Seton Hall star Myles Powell’s senior year began, he found himself on multiple national award watchlists. From the Wooden Award watchlist for national player of the year to the Jerry West Award for the best shooting guard in the country, Powell was in the running for most of the country’s prominent in awards.
Despite injuries that have kept him out of action and the beating he has taken throughout Big East Play; the Trenton native is still a serious contender to earn national awards. Earlier this week, Powell was named to the Wooden Award late season Top 20 and the Jerry West Award final Top 10.
Powell currently ranks 10th in the nation and second in the Big East in scoring behind Marquette’s Markus Howard with 21.4 points per game. Howard also joins Powell on the Wooden Award Top 20 as the only other Big East player in the running for the honor.
Powell has risen to the occasion for a Seton Hall team in the middle of one of the best seasons in program history. He is averaging 32.7 points per game against nationally ranked teams and 22.9 points in road games. Powell has spearheaded the No. 12 Pirates in multiple conference clashes on the road, pouring in 29 against DePaul to begin Big East play and 24 against St. John’s in a come-from-behind win at Madison Square Garden last month.
Powell is also fighting for multiple spots in the Seton Hall record book. He became the fifth player in program history to score 2,000 points and sits in fourth place on the all-time scoring list entering Wednesday night’s game against Georgetown with 2,069. Powell is also second all-time in three pointers made (323), eighth in field goals (674), 14th in free throws made (398), ninth in free throw percentage (.812) and 14th in steals (157) entering Wednesday night.
Despite Seton Hall’s recent 10-game winning streak, Powell has struggled with his efficiency. He has not registered double-digit points in the first half of his last four game and finished with only nine points in a loss to Xavier last weekend. Powell has also struggled shooting the ball since returning from a concussion that kept him out for two games, firing at a 25% clip from beyond the arc.
History indicates Powell will break out of his slump sooner rather than later. Either way, his place among the nation’s elite is solidified entering the latter half of the regular season with his presence on multiple final national award watchlists.
Tyler Calvaruso can be reached at tyler.calvaruso@student.shu.edu. Find him on Twitter @tyler_calvaruso.
