Myles Powell may have gone undrafted, but the All-American from Seton Hall will be getting a shot in the league anyway — not far from where he played college ball.
The Knicks will be giving the 6-foot-2 shooting guard from Trenton, N.J., an invitation to training camp that begins Dec. 1 and will be signing him as an undrafted free agent, sources confirmed to The Post. The deal is an Exhibit 10 contract, which comes with a $50,000 guarantee if he’s waived, and sets him up to play on the Knicks’ G-League team in Tarrytown. Powell, who is represented by CAA, the agency that used to be run by current Knicks president Leon Rose, had been training with fellow CAA client Obi Toppin, the Knicks’ first-round pick out of Dayton.
Powell, 23, was a huge star at Seton Hall, going from an underrated, out-of-shape recruit to winning the Jerry West Award (top shooting guard) and Big East Player of the Year his senior year. He would’ve been a part of four straight NCAA Tournaments, had COVID-19 not canceled the tournament in March. This past season, he averaged 21.0 points and 3.4 assists while playing through an assortment of injuries that hindered his potent perimeter shot at times.
“He’s excited and ready for his next opportunity,” Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard told The Post in a phone interview. “Obviously, he wanted to hear his name called, but I think not getting drafted gives him a better opportunity.”
Willard said Powell had three or four teams that were interested in bringing him in after he went undrafted. Ultimately, he chose the Knicks, after having lot of communication with them leading up to the draft.
“Everything was positive,” Willard said. “They really liked him. They were high on him.”
Despite a stellar college career, it couldn’t have helped his draft stock that there was no NCAA Tournament, no combine and no workouts to impress scouts.
Some experts liked Powell before the draft, pointing to his toughness, improvement over the years and work ethic. After ceding the spotlight his first two years at Seton Hall, he carried the program his final two years and finished his career third on the program’s all-time scoring list (2,252 points), behind Terry Dehere and Nick Werkman.
“He’s a big strong guard that is ultra-competitive and can score,” ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Bilas said this week over Zoom. “I wouldn’t call him a great shooter, but he’s a bucket-getter.”
— Additional reporting by Marc Berman