College Basketball: Centerville’s Powell picks new school

Credit: LHVisuals

Credit: LHVisuals

Jonathan Powell was not without a future college basketball team for long.

The Centerville standout, who asked out of his letter of intent to play at Xavier last week, announced Monday morning on social media he has committed to West Virginia.

A 6-foot-6 guard, Powell was named the Division I Ohio High School Basketball Coaches Association Player of the Year in March.

He averaged 19.3 points and 4.6 rebounds per game last season for Centerville, which finished 20-9. He scored 17 points in a 66-56 loss to Cleveland St. Ignatius in the Division I state championship game at UD Arena.

His strong two-year run with the Elks followed two seasons at Chaminade Julienne, where he averaged 16.8 points as a sophomore and 13.1 as a freshman when he helped the Eagles reach the D-II state tournament.

West Virginia hired Darian DeVries as head coach in late March. He is an Iowa native who was previously head coach at Drake.

According to 247Sports, the Mountaineers only return one player from last year, sophomore wing Ofri Naveh, but they are adding Tucker DeVries, the coach’s son who was a multiseason star at Drake.

247 ranks Powell the No. 4 player in Ohio for the class of 2024 while On3 ranks him third behind Damarius Owens of Western Reserve Academy and Tyler McKinley of Cincinnati Winton Woods.

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