UNC Recruiting: Four-star 2024 small forward Drake Powell commits to the Tar Heels

UNC basketball has had quite a bit of bad recruiting luck as of late, but it appears that their bad luck has some to an end. Today four-star 2024 small forward Drake Powell announced that he will play for the Tar Heels for his college career.

Powell is a 6’5, 170-lb player from Pittsboro, NC. He currently plays for Northwood High School, and is the 17th-best small forward in the 2024 class according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. He is also listed as the 58th-best player overall, with a lot of room to grow before he sets foot in the Dean Smith center.

There were numerous schools in play for Powell, with some of the more notable names being NC State, Texas A&M, Tennessee, Florida State, and Miami. Hubert Davis had just offered Powell on August 21st, which makes it seem like he was waiting on that scholarship offer all along.

Inside Carolina published an exclusive letter that Powell wrote about his commitment, and I recommend checking it out in its entirety. Here is an excerpt:

When we took my official visit there a few weeks ago, I just couldn’t stop smiling at everything I saw – the banners, the campus, the weight room, Franklin Street, it was all great. There’s an energy when you walk in the Smith Center that’s hard to explain.

Making emotional decisions is something I try not to do, though. In talking with Coach Hubert Davis and all the other coaches, I wanted to know where I fit in. Let me put it this way – I wanted them to want me as a player, not want me because they thought they had a better chance with me than anyone else. To be honest, I was getting a little impatient for Carolina to offer just around the time when they did.

The visit showed me I was wanted, and more. It was just good vibes from the time I got on campus until the time I left.

Drake Powell is now the first commit in the 2024 class, and there are a good amount of names on the rest of Davis’ recruiting board. He just offered five-star small forward Trentyn Flowers a scholarship earlier this week, and players like Ian Jackson, Tre Johnson, Elliot Cadeau are still out there, to name a few. This is a great start to filling out this class, and I’m sure we will hear more from the rest of the prospects in the coming months.

What do you think of Powell’s commitment? Let us know in the comments below.