By ADAM ZAGORIA
T.J. Power, the 6-foot-8, 210-pound Class of 2023 power forward from Worcester (MA) Academy and the Team BABC AAU Program, is down to a final five schools and is eyeing a decision sometime next month.
He is considering Duke, North Carolina, Iowa, Virginia and Boston College. Power has visited all five and has no more trips planned for the moment.
“I’m aiming for end of September right now [for a decision], but I don’t have a date,” he said Tuesday by phone.
He averaged 23.7 points and 8.0 rebounds per game on 42.2 percent shooting during the Nike EYBL IV Session in Kansas City, earning offensive MVP honors.
Power is also left-handed pitcher who throws in the upper 80s and is hoping to play both sports in college.
He broke down each school:
Duke: “Duke was the most recent visit. I went there after Peach Jam, and obviously the brand of Duke basketball and the school is as big as it gets on a college stage, so that was really cool.
“And Coach [Jon] Scheyer’s message to me was be a guy that’s interchangeable in a lot of lineups. They want to play fast and move the ball and lead the country in assists and 3-point makes. He sees me as a big piece of that core they’re trying to build there, so that’s super intriguing, too. I could add a lot to that team”
North Carolina: “UNC, I visited there after Peach Jam, too, just for a day. I’ve had a lot of great talks with coach [Hubert] Davis and they’re super-explosive on offense. I saw how they played last year, I really liked it. And coming back, they sort of have a similar team, so they’re probably going to be super successful again. Just being in that system with coach Davis, I think I would thrive in that. And then playing on the biggest stage again at UNC, would be really cool.”
Virginia: “I’ve been talking with Coach [Tony] Bennett for a long time now and I love what he’s about. I love what the program’s about in developing players and being super-disciplined on both sides of the floor. It’s a winning culture there, so all those boxes are checked. And it’s a great school. I loved it when I visited down there. I think there’s an opportunity for me to play pretty early there and hopefully develop into an NBA player there, and at the same time win a bunch of games.”
Iowa: “With Iowa, Coach [Fran] McCaffery has been recruiting me probably the longest of any coach. That’s my guy. We have a lot of talks about life and basketball, and anything, it’s not always about recruiting. With that being said, I love the play style, the direction they’re headed in and how they’ve played the past few years, winning the Big Ten championship, sending guys to the league. So I think there’s a lot of freedom there and opportunity to play.”
Boston College: “Boston College would be a special place, too, just because of how close it is to my house, to my family and friends. And at the same time being able to play a lot early and kind of grow with the young core that they have there would be really cool. And being able to play in the ACC so close to home is not something that comes along all the time.”
As for baseball, “I’m looking at trying to play both. At all these schools, I’ve talked with the baseball coach and all that so it will be kind of a dialogue between the two coaches when I get on campus, but yeah I’m trying to play both a little bit.”
But he added that his primary decision will be based on basketball.
“Yes,” he said.
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