Former Vols Guard Finds New Home in Pac-12 Conference

Former Tennessee Basketball shooting guard Justin Powell has transferred to Washington State University, ESPN's Jonathan Givony first reported on Tuesday. 

Powell entered the transfer portal on April 29, becoming the fourth member of the Vols' 2021-2022 roster to do so. 

Powell was with the Vols for just his sophomore season after playing his freshman year at Auburn, seeing fairly limited action as a bench player. 

The Kentucky native started off with a bang in his first game for the Big Orange, recording a +25 plus/minus rating with 13 points, one assist and one steal against UT Martin in the season opener. In Tennessee's next game ETSU, Powell tallied double digit points again and shot 3-4 from deep. 

The former Tiger excelled throughout non-conference play, becoming the ninth Vol in program history to make five or more threes in a game without a miss when he went 5-5 from beyond the arc against Presbyterian. 

However, the 6'6" guard struggled as SEC play ramped up, ending the year with a 3.7 points per game average on 30 appearances with one start. He finished the season 38 percent from three-point range (24-for-63). 

Powell came up big in three key games for the Volunteers in their 27-8 season. Powell scored 11 points, tallied four boards and went 3-4 from the field in Tennessee's win against Arizona. The 2020-2021 First-Year SEC Academic Honor Roll member made back-to-back threes to help Tennessee pull out a victory against Texas A&M, and Powell played a season-high 29 minutes in Tennessee's January 18 victory over Vanderbilt, scoring eight points with two threes. 

Powell has a guaranteed three years of college eligibility left, four if he redshirts. Washington State will be the sixth team Powell has played for in the past seven years, dating back to his high school days. 

The North Oldham high School product will look to find his footing with the Cougars in 2022 and, as Givony said in his tweet above, Powell has a golden opportunity to serve as one of the top options on offense for Washington State, especially from beyond the arc. 

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Photo Credit: Caitie McMekin of the Knoxville News Sentinel