Myles Powell Signs Free Agent Contract With New York Knicks
11/29/2020 2:31:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Powell's signing with New York is apropos. The Knicks' home court is Madison Square Garden, where Powell shined for four years while representing The Hall. In 13 career games at The World's Most Famous Arena, Powell averaged 19.9 points while shooting 45 percent from the field, 41 percent from three and 74 percent from the free throw line. In his MSG lore, he was most known for a 28-point performance and a jaw-dropping last-second three-pointer in a win over No. 9 Kentucky on Dec. 8, 2018.
Powell was one of the most dominant players in college basketball over the last two years and one of the most decorated Pirates in program history. Last season, he was the 2020 recipient of the Jerry West National Shooting Guard of the Year Award and Seton Hall's first NCAA consensus first-team All-American since 1953. He also was the BIG EAST Player of the Year and the Lieutenant Frank J. Haggerty Metropolitan Player of the Year.
🖊 OFFICIAL 📄
— Seton Hall Men's Basketball (@SetonHallMBB) November 29, 2020
Trenton ➡️ South Orange ➡️ @nyknicks
Proud of you, MP. Always a Pirate. #HALLin 🔵⚪️ | #NewYorkForever pic.twitter.com/k48EmBP3y5
A true winner in all sense of the word, Powell captained the Pirates to the school's best performance in nearly 30 years. The Hall finished the year 21-9 overall and 13-5 in the BIG EAST, earning a share of the conference's regular season championship for the first time since 1993. Powell and the Pirates, which started the league season 8-0, went wire-to-wire in first place in the BIG EAST for the first time in program history. On a national scale, the team was ranked in the Associated Press top 25 for most of the season, reaching as high as No. 8, while also rating high in all the metrics used for NCAA Tournament selection (KenPom 20, NET 15, KPI 11, SOR 18, BPI 22, SAG 15).
Powell finished the season with a 21.0 points per game average, which ranked second in the BIG EAST and 17th in the nation (fourth among players competing in power conferences), all while receiving an incredible amount of defensive attention from opponents. In BIG EAST games, Powell was also second in the league in scoring at 20.9 points per game as well as tied for 10th in assists (3.4) and tied for eighth in steals (1.4).
Powell did his best work in hostile environments as he averaged 25.8 points in Seton Hall's nine BIG EAST road games, leading the Pirates to a 7-2 mark in those contests, the most conference road wins in program history. His top-three road efforts included a 34-point outburst in a win at Georgetown on Feb. 5, a 29-point effort in a comeback win at then-No. 5 Butler on Jan. 15 and a 28-point, five-assist game at Marquette on Feb. 29. He also hit a dagger jumper to help seal Seton Hall's win at No. 10 Villanova on Feb. 8, the program's first road win over its rival since 1994.
Although his non-conference season was cut short due to injury, Powell performed in some of the biggest games of the early year. He scored 37 points against then-No. 3 Michigan State, which helped cement his status as one of the nation's best players. Then he set the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament record for most points scored with 74, including 32 against then-No. 11 Oregon. He averaged 25.8 points in the eight non-conference games he was able to finish without leaving due to injury.
Powell left a huge imprint on Seton Hall's record book. He became just the fifth Pirate to ever reach 2,000 points and finished third in program history with 2,252 points. He is the program's all-time leader in three-pointers made with 348, and he also is fifth in field goals made (736), 12th in free throws made (432), 17th in assists (303) and 13th in steals (166). His 84 wins as a Pirate are tied for sixth-most in Seton Hall history.
