Following is an article reprinted with permission from i95Ballerz.com. This episode focuses on the hiring of Mike Powell as head coach, what made him attractive to Carroll, the challenges he faces and his ability to meet them.
The scene was a high school game in December of 1990, where a young Mike Powell first became aware of Archbishop Carroll; as a recent transfer from Suitland, the talented yet raw Powell snatched a rebound, raced down court and finished chest to chest against a Carroll defender. His new Anacostia team lost, but Powell recalled “I made a point to beat Carroll one day because they were so tough and skilled as a team”.
To be fair Carroll, a Northeast, Washington, DC institution, was started in 1951, having to that point boasted athletic luminaries like NBA players John Thompson, Jr. and Eddie Jordan – both eventually coaching collegiately with Thompson landing in the Hall of Fame, while the latter also led National Basketball Association teams. Add an all-time great high school team to Carroll’s older resume, the crew which boasted Thompson and two undefeated seasons between 1958 and 1960.
After Powell’s first introduction to Carroll, the school continued to produce standout athletes, including Lawrence Moten, an eventual collegiate star who played in the NBA along with eventual fellow Syracuse standout and League guy, Kris Joseph. On the football side of things, Marvin Graves also went to ‘Cuse, where he was the team’s signal caller, while Joe Johnson ended up in the National Football league, as did Jamal Williams.
In short, these and a host of other athletes (like Wake Forest guard Charles Harrison and G’Town stalwart Reuben Boumtje) in multiple sports made the Carroll Lions one of the most feared brands in DMV high school sports. Powell certainly felt that way, noting “I’ve admired them from afar” since that 1990 game.
In August, Powell gained a very close seat to witness Carroll hoops and athletics, being named the schools’ most recent head boys basketball coach.
The challenge is he’s not inheriting the Lions of old: Over the last four years, the Lions are listed as going 18-83, routinely landing in the Washington Catholic Athletic Association’s basement, while no student has gone on to accept a four year scholarship offer for a number of years. Things have certainly changed.
It’s not lost on Powell.
“You have to meet players where they are” noted Powell, who revealed his inheritance of but five returning players and just a pair of them providing significant minutes last year during a winless season. “We’re building from the ground up. But I don’t anticipate staying in the basement”.
Archbishop Carroll HC, Mike Powell.
How does Powell, former associate head coach at Sidwell Friends School (DC) plan to attack what must be considered a Herculean task? By deploying a multifaceted plan, one that includes changing not only his team’s culture but that of Carroll’s itself. As he put it during his first coach’s meeting, “If classmates are coming to the game to laugh and joke, it’s not a good thing”.
Powell envisions the entire student body being supportive of all things Carroll, not using the games as an example to tease their fellow students. Transparency and openness, in Powell’s estimation, are key in any culture change.
He also believes in a focus on precision and adaptability – each cornerstones of Sidwell’s program. Both “are what can put us on top”.
His approach is as honed not simply by helping lead Sidwell Friends to prominence among DMV Hoops programs, but an extensive playing career, one that included two All Met designations (first team in ’92-93), a season at Virginia and a stellar collegiate finish at Loyola (MD).
The guy who recruited him to UVA and later coached Powell at Loyola is not surprised his former star has the chops to coach.
“Mike Powell was a low maintenance student-athlete with a great zest and thirst for wanting to learn how to play basketball, not just playing without comprehension”, said Brian Ellerbe, now an assistant at Morgan State. “He listened and he executed” continued Ellerbe. “He was always a player who appreciated the basics”.
At Sidwell, Powell worked with head coach Eric Singletary since 2006, “the beginning of my coaching career” per Mike. The Quakers were transformed from perennial doormat to a program that regularly takes down nationally recognized teams in both regular season and summer league action. This occurred all while existing in one of the most academically rigorous high school environments possible.
That duality – managing both high level academic and athletic expectations – is in large measure what made Powell attractive to Carroll.
“There was an interview committee working with me. I think what we saw in Coach Powell was mix of proven experience, and taking players of all skill level and maxing what they bring to the court” shared Carroll’s president, Beth Blaufuss. “As well as a track record of integrating competitive basketball with strong academic and community expectations”.
What deliverables does Blaufuss hope to see in the short term?
“I want him to build enthusiasm, a few more victories, and also want a team culture among kids and parents that give us room to grow” she answered. “I’ve been proud how athletics in general and boy’s basketball particularly have increased the expectations of our academic expectations…he will continue to support that”.
Between the lines Blaufuss desires “to be competitive in the WCAC in the next couple of years”, a significant goal given that league’s status as probably America’s best pure high school conference. Nevertheless, it can’t come “at the expense of education”.
Do Sidwell’s head guy, Singletary, and Ellerbe believe Powell capable of meeting expectations of Carroll and their president?
On the court, Singletary opined “He’s (Powell) going to immediately change the culture of Carroll Basketball back to respectability. He is a tireless worker who knows no boundary of what he thinks a player can accomplish”. Singletary also labeled his former co-worker “a master at devising defenses and getting players to execute that”, a coach that “knows the game at a tactical level”.
That, and an academic pedigree/focus coupled with a desire for “kids to push themselves in that regard as well”, leaves Singletary “excited about his future as a HC (head coach) “Add a guy who was “so brilliant as a player but also has the compassion that a lot of great players don’t have in order to be a good coach”, one who communicates very well and “allows the space for players to grow into their confidence”.
To be accurate Singletary has never doubted Powell’s first-chair-guy chops. Morgan State’s Ellerbe is bullish on Mike’s prospects as well, saying “He’ll do well as a head coach because his heart is in it and he likes to teach players the game and how to use basketball and not let basketball use him”.
Ellerbe summed by stating “Carroll is really lucky” having Powell coach. Singletary emphatically expressed the same sentiment.
This journey for Powell et al starts now.
Extras:
The Route
How did Powell, the former standout player make his way to coaching? It was not a direct route; after graduating from Loyola in 1998, he worked in the business world, yet the playing itch continued. A tryout with Los Angeles’ Lakers of the National Basketball Association didn’t produce a roster spot, but did allow self-assessment at a high level of competition.
Still, Powell longed to be around the game. Enter Eric Singletary’s 2006 outreach, imploring Powell to join his staff. Several years coaching high level travel team ball with Team Takeover has also added to Powell’s coach took kit.
20th Century Guy
For the record, Powell was a heckuva player, a multi-year All Met selection, whose collegiate career was temporarily sidetracked at UVA due to sickness. After a Loyola transfer, Powell, who his former Greyhound coach, Brian Ellerbe compared equally to any guard in the country at that time, simply flourished. Over three years in Baltimore, Powell racked up numbers of 19.8 ppg, 4.8 rpg and 3.3 apg, landing him on Loyola’s All-Century team.
