Seton Hall can forget the disappointment that was the final week of the regular season. The postseason is here, and it has a major reason to celebrate.
Senior Myles Powell was named the Big East Player of the Year on Wednesday a few hours before the Big East Tournament kicked off at the Garden, becoming just the third Pirate to win the award and the first since Terry Dehere in 1993.
The 6-foot-2 shooting guard from Trenton received the prestigious honor after leading the Pirates to what will be a fifth straight NCAA Tournament. It will almost certainly be their highest seed since that season 27 years ago when Dehere and Co. won the conference’s regular season and postseason tournament.
“Myles is kind of what we strive for in our program, which is getting guys individually better,” coach Kevin Willard said. “He exemplifies what we do.”
As Powell was talking to reporters, Villanova coach Jay Wright gave him a hug and joked: “I hope I don’t see you again.”
Despite suffering a serious concussion in December and battling right knee tendinitis over the last month, Powell averaged 21.0 points per game, second-most in the league and 18th-best in the country and was tied for 10th in assists (3.4) and for eighth in steals (1.4) in conference play.
He has overcome adversity. His older brother Noel, 29, is behind bars at the Monmouth County Correctional Institution in Freehold after he was indicted in February 2018 on first-degree murder and weapons offenses. When Powell won the league’s Most Improved Player award as a sophomore, Noel told him he wanted him to be Player of the Year one day. He broke the news to Noel on Tuesday night over the phone.
“I could hear the tears in his voice and that filled my heart with love,” Powell said. “I kind of dedicated my college career for him.”
On Sunday, Powell joined Dehere as the second Seton Hall player to be named to the league’s first team in consecutive seasons. He’s the school’s third all-time leading scorer and is a finalist for the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award, and a semifinalist for the Wooden Award and Naismith Trophy. Powell and third-seeded Seton Hall meet No. 6 Marquette in the Big East Tournament quarterfinals Thursday at 9:30 p.m.
The award caps what has been a transcendent career. In part because of a broken foot during his senior year of high school, Powell arrived at Seton Hall the summer before his freshman year overweight at 240 pounds. He dropped 45 pounds by the time the year began, quickly becoming an intense gym rat obsessed with being in peak condition.
Seton Hall was expected to take a step back the following season, after Desi Rodriguez, Angel Delgado, Khadeen Carrington and Ismael Sanogo graduated, but Powell emerged as a superstar, leading the Pirates back to the NCAA Tournament. He considered going pro last spring, but opted to return, in part to become the first member of his family to graduate from college.
Now, as Powell enters the home stretch of his memorable college career, hoping to lead Seton Hall on a memorable March run, he has the hardware that will cement his status as a legendary Pirate.
“He was extremely determined when he came in to be a great player,” Willard said. “A lot of kids talk about wanting to be great and a lot of kids go out Thursday nights, go out Friday nights. He wasn’t one of those kids. He was a kid who was dedicated and did what he could to be great.”