https://setonhall.rivals.com/
By JP Pelzman
Seton Hall 2021 commit Tyler Powell was asked if he was aware of the nickname Grant Billmeier had been given by his teammates during his playing days at The Hall.
“G-Banger,” Powell was told, and he chuckled briefly as he could relate.
How fitting, then, that current assistant coach Grant Billmeier was the lead recruiter in the Pirates’ pursuit of Powell, a 6-5 wing from Ribet Academy (Calif.) who is rated as a 3-star, top 150 prospect. That’s because Ribet assistant Pookey Wigington, himself an overachieving former Pirate, calls Powell “hard-nosed” and a “fighter” on the court but a “lovable kid” off it.
“I like to play defense,” Powell said. “I feel disrespected when someone scores on me. My job is to make it hard for them to score. I'm an inside-out player. I play with my heart all the time."
“Coach Grant and I hit it off right away,” Powell told PirateCrew.com. “We had a good relationship talking about things outside of basketball. He knew my situation being a West Coast kid and what my challenges are, coming to the East Coast.”
Wigington indicated that, from the start, Billmeier and “Seton Hall did a phenomenal job of communicating and sharing with him a lot, not just about basketball, but about the Seton Hall family and relationships and alumni and how things work after basketball. So, he was able to look at all these things.”
Wigington, also a successful businessman and comedy producer, runs a non-profit youth program called Team Dream Academy. Powell joined when he was 10 and played center.
“He really wanted to learn how to play the game,” Wigington said, “and his mom and his brother and his family were really supportive of him. He smiled every day. He came in with an inspiring attitude, even though he lived in the ’hood, he always came into the gym with passion."
“He always talked about being one of the best players and helping his family later on,” Wigington said. “He started that mentality when he was very young. He's a bubbly kid who plays with a smile. He's always looking to learn, not just in basketball but in general.”
And not only on the court, but off the court, too. Although he drew interest from Washington State, Stanford, TCU, New Mexico and local schools such as Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount, Powell wanted to get away from California.
“That was always a factor for me,” Powell explained. “My mom says, ‘I want you to get out of here, I want you to explore the world and meet new people, do new things that you want to experience.’ I feel the love (from Seton Hall people) already.”
He certainly feels good about the program, as does Wigington.
“I feel it’s not really a challenge” to move across the country, Powell said. “Once I get there, I'm going to immediately bond with people. I feel I'm a good-hearted person. That’s why me and Coach Grant and Coach (Kevin) Willard get along so well. We talk about basketball. We talk about life in general.”
Willard “doesn’t have to get top 5 kids in the country to have a great program,” said Wigington, a 5-3 backup point guard on The Hall’s legendary 1989 team who compares Willard’s ability to develop players favorably with P.J. Carlesimo’s talent for it. “(Willard) goes to look at kids who are hard workers that want to be great, he sees a certain something inside of them, a personality that they’re hard-nosed and a fighter, and then he develops them.”
One of those players Willard developed was recently graduated All-American guard Myles Powell (no relation).
“I have not met Myles Powell as of yet but I really like his game,” Powell said.
Powell said of Willard, “He likes to win. I like to win. We both like to work hard. How you work hard on the court correlates to how you work hard in life. What you put in is what comes out.”
Still, despite the serious attitude, Wigington says there’s another side to Powell.
“He's like the team clown, too,” Wigington said. “He’s an extrovert. What impressed me most was he’s just a big teddy bear and he’s always laughing and smiling and light-hearted. That was the number one thing because he’s easily coachable.”
In terms of making his decision, Wigington said of Powell, “Tyler is a kid who’s always been beneath the umbrella of his family, of people really helping to guide him. He talked to everybody individually, he took their information, and then he began to look at what he wanted out of life--more independence, and he definitely wanted to be at a higher level of basketball."
“I think he found both at Seton Hall.”
Powell said it helped knowing a Seton Hall alum.
“For sure, (Wigington) was telling me what’s around campus and where to go,” said Powell, who also noted he has an uncle from New Jersey. “It's good to have that guidance.”
Powell averaged 19 points and nine rebounds as a junior, and can score from both inside and outside.
“He's a gym rat,” Wigington said. “If he could stay in the gym all day, he’ll go home and eat, and then he’ll go back to the gym. He's constantly working to get better and he has the right kind of attitude to be a good teammate.”
“I'm always working on every aspect of the game,” said Powell, who also credits head coach Reggie Howard with helping him improve his game. “I feel I can get stronger with the ballhandling part. I feel like I'm getting better every day.”
Wigington said Powell’s own perfectionism sometimes can be a problem.
“He has such high expectations,” Wigington said, “(but) it’s OK to miss a shot. It’s OK to make a mistake, don’t get down on yourself.”
Still, Wigington added, “No moment is too big. (Even as a Hall freshman), if the game is on the line, that kid wants the basketball and he’s going to look to deliver. He can flat out shoot the rock. He’s coming in to compete, whatever your expectations are, he’s going to do his best to surpass them.”
Wigington and Ribet Academy experienced a similar pain to what happened to his alma mater. Ribet qualified for the California Division I title game, but it was wiped out by COVID-19, much like the entire 2020 NCAA Tournament.
“One of the biggest things we do in basketball as players and competitors is we measure ourselves by team championships,” Wigington said. “When you get a team like that (this past year’s Seton Hall team), that has an opportunity to compete for a championship and they don’t get a chance to solidify that, man, that’s a heavy, heavy piece to carry. Because you define your work ethic and your commitment by how you close out every year."
“That's a tough, tough thing to do because we just dealt with it ourselves here.”
“I'm not going to lie,” Powell said. “It was hard at first. I didn’t know what to do.”
He eventually took solace in a familiar place. “The gym is always there. The gym never leaves,” he said.
“Be patient with him,” Wigington said. “Embrace him like he’s one of our own from New Jersey. Show him the love. He's going to be away from home as a 17-, 18-year-old kid and it’s important that we take him under our wing like one of our own from Seton Hall.”
In conclusion Powell added, “For the Pirate fans out there, I'm pumped, I'm ready to meet you guys, this is going to be a big move for me. Don’t be afraid to talk to me just because I come from the West Coast. I'm a nice person. I'm always interested in hearing you guys out, I'm interested in your feedback and support. I'm already getting love, so I'm just going to show love back, on the court and off the court."
"I can't wait."
By JP Pelzman
Seton Hall 2021 commit Tyler Powell was asked if he was aware of the nickname Grant Billmeier had been given by his teammates during his playing days at The Hall.
“G-Banger,” Powell was told, and he chuckled briefly as he could relate.
How fitting, then, that current assistant coach Grant Billmeier was the lead recruiter in the Pirates’ pursuit of Powell, a 6-5 wing from Ribet Academy (Calif.) who is rated as a 3-star, top 150 prospect. That’s because Ribet assistant Pookey Wigington, himself an overachieving former Pirate, calls Powell “hard-nosed” and a “fighter” on the court but a “lovable kid” off it.
“I like to play defense,” Powell said. “I feel disrespected when someone scores on me. My job is to make it hard for them to score. I'm an inside-out player. I play with my heart all the time."
“Coach Grant and I hit it off right away,” Powell told PirateCrew.com. “We had a good relationship talking about things outside of basketball. He knew my situation being a West Coast kid and what my challenges are, coming to the East Coast.”
Wigington indicated that, from the start, Billmeier and “Seton Hall did a phenomenal job of communicating and sharing with him a lot, not just about basketball, but about the Seton Hall family and relationships and alumni and how things work after basketball. So, he was able to look at all these things.”
Wigington, also a successful businessman and comedy producer, runs a non-profit youth program called Team Dream Academy. Powell joined when he was 10 and played center.
“He really wanted to learn how to play the game,” Wigington said, “and his mom and his brother and his family were really supportive of him. He smiled every day. He came in with an inspiring attitude, even though he lived in the ’hood, he always came into the gym with passion."
“He always talked about being one of the best players and helping his family later on,” Wigington said. “He started that mentality when he was very young. He's a bubbly kid who plays with a smile. He's always looking to learn, not just in basketball but in general.”
And not only on the court, but off the court, too. Although he drew interest from Washington State, Stanford, TCU, New Mexico and local schools such as Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount, Powell wanted to get away from California.
“That was always a factor for me,” Powell explained. “My mom says, ‘I want you to get out of here, I want you to explore the world and meet new people, do new things that you want to experience.’ I feel the love (from Seton Hall people) already.”
He certainly feels good about the program, as does Wigington.
“I feel it’s not really a challenge” to move across the country, Powell said. “Once I get there, I'm going to immediately bond with people. I feel I'm a good-hearted person. That’s why me and Coach Grant and Coach (Kevin) Willard get along so well. We talk about basketball. We talk about life in general.”
Willard “doesn’t have to get top 5 kids in the country to have a great program,” said Wigington, a 5-3 backup point guard on The Hall’s legendary 1989 team who compares Willard’s ability to develop players favorably with P.J. Carlesimo’s talent for it. “(Willard) goes to look at kids who are hard workers that want to be great, he sees a certain something inside of them, a personality that they’re hard-nosed and a fighter, and then he develops them.”
One of those players Willard developed was recently graduated All-American guard Myles Powell (no relation).
“I have not met Myles Powell as of yet but I really like his game,” Powell said.
Powell said of Willard, “He likes to win. I like to win. We both like to work hard. How you work hard on the court correlates to how you work hard in life. What you put in is what comes out.”
Still, despite the serious attitude, Wigington says there’s another side to Powell.
“He's like the team clown, too,” Wigington said. “He’s an extrovert. What impressed me most was he’s just a big teddy bear and he’s always laughing and smiling and light-hearted. That was the number one thing because he’s easily coachable.”
In terms of making his decision, Wigington said of Powell, “Tyler is a kid who’s always been beneath the umbrella of his family, of people really helping to guide him. He talked to everybody individually, he took their information, and then he began to look at what he wanted out of life--more independence, and he definitely wanted to be at a higher level of basketball."
“I think he found both at Seton Hall.”
Powell said it helped knowing a Seton Hall alum.
“For sure, (Wigington) was telling me what’s around campus and where to go,” said Powell, who also noted he has an uncle from New Jersey. “It's good to have that guidance.”
Powell averaged 19 points and nine rebounds as a junior, and can score from both inside and outside.
“He's a gym rat,” Wigington said. “If he could stay in the gym all day, he’ll go home and eat, and then he’ll go back to the gym. He's constantly working to get better and he has the right kind of attitude to be a good teammate.”
“I'm always working on every aspect of the game,” said Powell, who also credits head coach Reggie Howard with helping him improve his game. “I feel I can get stronger with the ballhandling part. I feel like I'm getting better every day.”
Wigington said Powell’s own perfectionism sometimes can be a problem.
“He has such high expectations,” Wigington said, “(but) it’s OK to miss a shot. It’s OK to make a mistake, don’t get down on yourself.”
Still, Wigington added, “No moment is too big. (Even as a Hall freshman), if the game is on the line, that kid wants the basketball and he’s going to look to deliver. He can flat out shoot the rock. He’s coming in to compete, whatever your expectations are, he’s going to do his best to surpass them.”
Wigington and Ribet Academy experienced a similar pain to what happened to his alma mater. Ribet qualified for the California Division I title game, but it was wiped out by COVID-19, much like the entire 2020 NCAA Tournament.
“One of the biggest things we do in basketball as players and competitors is we measure ourselves by team championships,” Wigington said. “When you get a team like that (this past year’s Seton Hall team), that has an opportunity to compete for a championship and they don’t get a chance to solidify that, man, that’s a heavy, heavy piece to carry. Because you define your work ethic and your commitment by how you close out every year."
“That's a tough, tough thing to do because we just dealt with it ourselves here.”
“I'm not going to lie,” Powell said. “It was hard at first. I didn’t know what to do.”
He eventually took solace in a familiar place. “The gym is always there. The gym never leaves,” he said.
“Be patient with him,” Wigington said. “Embrace him like he’s one of our own from New Jersey. Show him the love. He's going to be away from home as a 17-, 18-year-old kid and it’s important that we take him under our wing like one of our own from Seton Hall.”
In conclusion Powell added, “For the Pirate fans out there, I'm pumped, I'm ready to meet you guys, this is going to be a big move for me. Don’t be afraid to talk to me just because I come from the West Coast. I'm a nice person. I'm always interested in hearing you guys out, I'm interested in your feedback and support. I'm already getting love, so I'm just going to show love back, on the court and off the court."
"I can't wait."
