INTEL: Ranking the contenders for 4-star TJ Power

TJ Power is the No. 21 ranked player in On3’s 2023 rankings. The 6-foot-8 forward from Worcester (MA) Academy blew up in July after an explosive 40-point performance at EYBL Kansas City.

Heading into July, Virginia looked to be the leader in the clubhouse. Then Kansas, Duke, UCLA, and North Carolina offered.

Power took official visits to Iowa, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Duke, and Virginia. Notre Dame did not make his final five schools; he added Boston College to the other four. He will announce his commitment on Wednesday, September 7 at 5 Eastern.

Let’s go through all the intel and rank the contenders.

1. Duke

Duke offered in July, and Power immediately set a visit. He talked about getting the Duke’s offer was ‘surreal’ and how ‘The Brotherhood’ culture was very powerful.

Duke coach Jon Scheyer targeted Power since offering him. They had one scholarship open, and Power was the guy he was going after.

Duke’s chances: 95 percent

2. Virginia

Virginia was the early favorite to land Power. Heading into July, they were in a good spot. Power was very open about growing up a fan of Virginia, and he spoke about his morals are perfectly in line with Tony Bennett’s.

Virginia’s chances: 5 percent

Final thoughts

After Duke offered, this one had the feeling it would be Duke, with Virginia hanging in there. UNC was involved some, but as we wrote last week, at this point, they were never really a threat.

Ironically enough, Duke was targeting a big with their final scholarship, and seeing Power in Kansas City, had them shift to a skilled forward who can dribble, shoot, and pass. Power was their only option.

Duke answered any questions Power had about the lineup, playing time, and roster makeup. But as we reported, this one was slanted toward Duke since the offer and subsequent visit.

On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine

I have placed my expert pick in On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine (RPM) for TJ Power to choose Duke. I set my pick with 95-percent confidence.

The On3 engineering group teamed up with Spiny.ai to create the industry’s first algorithm and machine learning-based product to predict where athletes will attend college. Starting from the ground up, On3 built an entirely new product that utilizes data, human expertise, and machine learning.