Rising freshman and five-star forward Drake Powell was selected this week to attend the 2024 Nike Skills Academy in Portland, Oregon. He was a participant in the event last summer and is the only Tar Heel to make it this year.
The NBA Skills Academy is a week-long event where players go through various workouts and drills, film sessions and five-on-five games. Current and former NBA players attend the event to train up-and-coming talent for high school and college. There are also plenty of NBA scouts in attendance at the event. With only 15 male college players selected each year, it’s a pretty big deal that Powell made it through. It’s a great opportunity for him to show NBA scouts what he’s made of before he steps out in Carolina Blue for the first time in November.
Excellent performance from UNC’s Drake Powell in the Nike Academy, showing an impressive blend of defensive versatility, intensity, passing and confidence from distance. Influenced the win in a variety of ways and has plenty of room for improvement in the long run. pic.twitter.com/ljoT2as00o
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) 8 August 2024
Drake Powell is a 6’6″, 195-pound small forward from Pittsboro, NC. He finished high school as the third-best small forward in the country and the 11th-best player overall according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. Powell was named a McDonald’s All-American along with teammate Ian Jackson. James Brown, also a 2024 commit, joined the trio, giving UNC its fifth-best recruiting class, which is also the highest-rated recruiting class of the Hubert Davis era.
Of course, there was a lot of excitement surrounding Jackson and the potential that he could be a one-and-done candidate, but Powell has a good chance of making the league next year as well. He shot up the high school rankings last summer during AAU play and continued to prove just how talented he is during his final season at Norwood High School. One of the most enticing aspects of his game is that he is known as a gifted defender and was actually declared the best defender in the class of 2024 according to Travis Branham of 247Sports. There is a lot to be excited about when it comes to Powell’s arrival in Chapel Hill, and I expect him to play a big role in the team’s quest to return to the Final Four.
