Washington, D.C., native Mike Powell was a smooth 6-foot-2 left-handed guard with a big-time game. After a difficult first year of college, both on and off the basketball court, all he was looking for was a chance to show it.
Loyola gave him that opportunity, and he paid his new teammates and coaches back by surpassing even the highest expectations they had for him.
After playing his freshman year at Virginia, Powell scored nearly 1,600 points in only three seasons at Loyola, leading the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) in scoring in both his sophomore and senior seasons. His 23.1 points per game in 1997-98 ranked seventh nationally; he began that season by scoring at least 25 points in five of Loyola's first eight games.
The Greyhounds spent 24 years in the MAAC; Powell was the only Loyola player to earn first-team All-MAAC honors three times. When the MAAC named its 25th Anniversary Team in 2006, Powell was Loyola's only representative.
Dino Gaudio, now a college basketball analyst and then Loyola's coach, told The Baltimore Sun in 1997 that "Mike is the total package. He can create his own shot or come off a screen and hit the three. When he's double-teamed, he's a great passer who finds the open man."
Most impressively, Powell led the nation in free throws as senior, making 207 of his 255 attempts from the line. That is still a school record, as are his 16 free throws made in a game without a miss.
During his final two years as a Greyhound, Powell teamed with Jason Rowe to form one of the better backcourts in Division I basketball.
Despite injuries, and often playing out of position, Powell averaged nearly 16 points per game as a junior as the Greyhounds finished 10-4 in the MAAC. With Powell leading the way as a senior, Loyola reached the semifinals of the MAAC tournament.
Powell now leads his own basketball team in his hometown; he was named the head boys basketball coach at Archbishop Carroll High School this past summer.
