TJ Power reacts to offers from Duke, UNC, UCLA, & Kansas

The past five days have been a whirlwind for TJ Power, a 6-foot-8 forward out of Shrewsbury (Mass.) Worcester Academy. In less than a week, Power received offers from a host of blue-bloods in Kansas, UCLA, North Carolina, and Duke.

The offers came after last weekend at EYBL Session 4 in Kansas City. Over the course of a handful of games, Power averaged 23.7 points on 42.2% from the field and added eight rebounds per game for Team BABC (MA).

Even before last week, Power was viewed as highly-touted recruit. The likes of Virginia, Notre Dame, Iowa, Providence, Virginia Tech, Providence, and many others are all chasing him. He ranks as four-star prospect and ranks as the No. 67 overall prospect in the class of 2023 according to the On3 Consensus.

However, his recruitment was flipped upside down when the fiercest of competition hopped on the TJ Power train. Kansas was the first to make their offer official on July 10th. Followed up by UCLA and North Carolina on July 12th, and then concluded by Duke less than 24 hours ago.

TJ Power talks growing up a fan of two programs

Power values the relationships he’s already built with the coaches of programs that were around prior to the blue-bloods craze, but, he would be foolish to not take a peak to see what the new boys in town have to offer.

“It’s been crazy,” Power says of the experience. “The way it’s built up, I’ve been able to build a lot of strong relationships and have seen a lot of schools that I really like. I’ve played well the last few weekends here recently, and it kind of changes when the blue bloods come in. I definitely value the relationships I still have and I’m going to look into those places hard still, but I’m also excited to build new relationships with these new schools and explore these other options.”

TJ Power zeroed in on 5 schools before blue blood offers

With several new options on his plate, let’s dive in and hear Power’s thoughts on each of the recent programs to enter the mix.

Kansas and the Christian Braun comparison

“With Kansas, I look at Christian Braun a little bit and how he played last year,” Power said. “He plays with a lot of energy and a high motor and could score a lot. That’s kind of how I see myself, as far as someone who plays to win. They have a lot of tough, tough players and they always do.”

Kansas’ winning tradition is attractive to Power.

“I talked to coach (Bill) Self last night and that’s something he stressed as far as like, they need core guys that are gonna be around to win another national championship. So that was really cool to hear and you know, it’s the highest level and they’re going to be making runs and tournament every year. So it would be cool to kind of get out there and build that relationship more.”

TJ Power: “I see UCLA as a place I could really fit in”

“That offer was definitely intriguing to me just because it’s a beautiful school and a beautiful campus,” Power said. “I’ve had a good conversation with their whole staff and coach (Mick) Cronin. They’re gonna be in the Big Ten during my sophomore year, which is going to be a powerhouse of a league. So that’s definitely intriguing. But for me, it’s like these blue blood offers, it’s one thing like to have them, but it’s another thing for that place to actually be a fit as far as how they play.”

Power says he could see himself fitting the mold for the Bruins.

“I see UCLA as a place that I could really fit in, as far as like their offense and they play it with four guards and one big. So for me to kind of utilize my size to attack mismatches is what they value out there. So that’s definitely something that I’m gonna be looking at closely.”

Power talks ‘exciting’ offer from North Carolina & his conversation with Hubert Davis

“That was super exciting,” Power said of his offer from North Carolina. “I have a lot of UNC fans in my extended family so that was a crazy time for all of us.”

Power’s personal conversation with head coach Hubert Davis was ‘refreshing.’

“My call with (Hubert) Davis is what stood out to me. We probably talked for half an hour, and the first 15 minutes were not even about basketball. We were just talking about family and how I was raised and how he was raised and his journey of becoming the head coach there and how it was his dream job. That was really cool and refreshing.”

The way North Carolina played Brady Manek caught Power’s eye.

“Once he got onto the topic of basketball, it just got even better because of what they’ve done this year and as a first year head coach. To get to the championship game is unbelievable. He just said how they are going to come back with that same fire. So it’s going to be really fun to watch them. The way they can utilize skilled bigs stands out. He showed that last year with Brady Manek and this year they kind of planned to do the same thing. So that’s obviously super appealing for a place that historically. You know, there might not be a more historic place than UNC basketball.“

A ‘surreal’ moment when Duke offered

“This whole week has been a whirlwind, so it just added to it,” Power said of getting an offer from Duke. “Coach (Jon) Scheyer FaceTimed me and to even be on FaceTime with the head coach at Duke was surreal to me. When he extended the offer to me, I tried to keep it cool on the camera, but when I hung up, I had a smile on my face and was hugging my parents and stuff like that. It was definitely an unreal moment for me.”

How does Power potentially envision himself at Duke?

“I think I could be a core guy at Duke. A guy that can be plugged into any lineup there, and be super versatile and add some scoring and play making. They’ve had guys like that have success there. And with the classes they have coming in, like, you know, you’d be in the mix to win a national championship right away. That’s definitely super intriguing. I think coach Scheyer is bringing a young approach to it as far as having versatile wings who can handle the ball and make plays. So that’s something that I’m looking for.”

Power enjoyed watching future Blue Devils while they were still in high school.

“Growing up, I was one of these kids that would follow all of the best high school players and try to watch their games on TV or try to go to the Hoophall Classic. A lot of my favorite players to watch while they were in high school ended up going to Duke. I was always loved watching them as a fan and watching those players go off to the NBA.”

Which players in particular did Power enjoy watching?

“I liked Cam Reddish and Marvin Bagley a lot,” he says. “They were kind of the two I followed throughout their high school. And I like DeAndre Hunter a lot at UVA.”

Which college coach does Power have the best relationship with?

Being in the mix early early for a recruit has its perks, with one of them being relationship building.

Who does Power have the best relationship with, when it comes to college coaches?

“I would say coach Bennett at UVA and coach McCaffrey at Iowa. I have the best relationships with them. Also, I have a really good relationship with coach Cooley at Providence. Those are like the head coaches that I feel like the most comfortable talking with and have a lot of trust with them right now.”

What’s Power looking for in a school?

“Academics and then basketball wise, a place where I can be versatile and be free, kind of. I want to have the ability to utilize my size, to get to my spots and things like that.

“So places that play with a lot of freedom and confidence, and then having a good relationship with the coach, I think is what builds that confidence. So I would say the big things for me are academics, play style and a relationship with the coach. And then I would throw in like player development as well is big for me.”

Future visits, commitment timetable?

“It definitely is crazy right now and up in the air,” Power says. “I’m probably going set up dates for the schools when I get back from Peach Jam.”

*Peach Jam runs from July 17-24th.

“I might go back out to Notre Dame for a football weekend or maybe back out to Iowa, but it’s hard to say with these new schools, because they’ve all extended offers and said ‘we’d love to get you out here for a visit.’ It’s going to take some hard thinking for me to figure out where I want to go since obviously I only get five officials.”

It’s still too soon for Power to give an exact timeline for a college commitment, but he has an idea.

“Sometime in the fall like late September or early October, I think is when I’ll decide just to get it out of the way before my senior high school season. I have some visits that I need to take to kind of really feel out all the options. That might take some time, but, I would say like sometime late September.”