By Keisha J Kelley
November 10, 2020
Power forward, Duncan Powell has decided to make his home at North Carolina A&T. The 6-8, 220 power forward out of Desoto, Tx chose North Carolina A&T over Dayton, UTSA, Hampton, and Old Dominion. Powell, a 4 star recruit, was ranked by ESPN.com as the number 85 overall prospect in the class of 2021, and becomes the first top 100 prospect to commit to NCAT in this recruiting era.
"It goes a lot into the family atmosphere of it," Powell said. "The alumni base is second to none and is great." Powell adds. Powell says he has built a great relationship with both Coach Will Jones and Ahmad Dorsett.
“They want me to come in and just dominate,” Powell said. “There’s really no word for how they want me to come in. It’s not like they ‘we want you to come in and be a shooter’, ‘we want you to come in and be a facilitator’.
“They want me to come in and dominate. I’ve talked to coach Jones a whole lot about that and that’s really what they want me to do, dominate all areas.”
As the tide continues to turn, Powell's decision comes on the heels of Maker Makur, a 5 star prospect, who committed to Howard University four months ago, making him the the first top 20 prospect to commit to an HBCU.
Powell is no stranger to Aggie Pride though. His cousin, Adrian Powell, played at North Carolina A&T from 2009-13 and was a part of the Aggies last NCAA Tournament appearance in 2013.
Last month, Powell made the decision to forego his senior season at DeSoto (TX) High School in order to prepare for college.
I just want to come to college healthy, ready to go and focus on getting my body right for college. High School basketball takes a toll on you, especially 6A Texas. A whole year I could be spending getting my body right. It was best for me. It was a business decision.”