If you were holding out hope that UNC freshman Drake Powell would withdraw from the NBA Draft process and return to the team, I have some bad news for you.
ESPN’s Jeff Borzello tweeted yesterday that Powell plans to stay in the NBA Draft, officially slamming the door on any chance of him returning to UNC for his sophomore year.
“All-in on the draft. Door’s closed.”
> UNC's Drake Powell, who tested as arguably the best athlete at the Combine, said he's staying in the NBA draft."All-in on the draft. Door's closed."
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> "Hubert Davis has been very supportive during this process. I've known him for a long time ... and he's just happy for me." [pic.twitter.com/3wQVl0O3NJ](https://t.co/3wQVl0O3NJ)
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> — Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) [May 14, 2025](https://twitter.com/jeffborzello/status/1922723483697422787?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
When Powell announced his decision to enter the draft, it was pretty well known that his chances of hearing his name on draft night were pretty decent. While initial mock drafts didn’t mention him as much as I would’ve expected, NBA scouts seem to know that there is a lot to like about his game. He finished his lone season as a Tar Heels shooting 48.3% from the field and 37.9% from deep, and has all of the makings as a potential three-and-D product. So far in the NBA Draft process, he has had the best no-step vertical leap in the class at 37 and a half inches, and best running vertical leap at 43 inches. When all was said and done, Powell was considered one of the best athletes to go through the process in Chicago.
While everything went in Powell’s favorite as far as most of the drills went, the shooting drills didn’t go as well as he would’ve hoped. He reportedly only converted 55 percent of his attempts, which is something that scouts would have to get a better look at during the evaluation process. It honestly makes his decision to opt out of the 5-on-5 scrimmage portions of the combine and interesting choice, but his camp seems to be confident that he is in a good draft position. Still, I would’ve used that opportunity to show the scouts a little bit more when it came to shooting skills, but perhaps there will be other ways that he can show off what he can do from now until June.
So, what does this mean for UNC? Nothing that we didn’t already know: Hubert Davis needs to find a wing that has the potential to be a starter on his roster. That is, of course, assuming that Davis hasn’t already schemed out how to utilize the players that are currently on his roster. Does he think West Virginia transfer Jonathan Powell is good enough to fill that spot? Would he ponder playing Caleb Wilson at the three in a larger lineup? Who knows at this point, but ideally if I’m the Tar Heels I’m finding someone who will give me comfort that they will be able to at least somewhat fill the shoes of Drake Powell. It does sound like they are still working hard in the portal, and allegedly they have their eyes on some overseas prospects as well. We’ll have to wait and see if anything comes out of their search.
In the meantime, what do you think of Drake Powell’s decision to fully commit to staying in the NBA Draft? Let us know in the comments below.