Drake Powell talks about his NBA Draft experience going with Brooklyn Nets – 6.25.25

Drake Powell talks about his NBA Draft experience going with Brooklyn Nets – 6.25.25

ready [Music] yeah let’s do it
all right all right Drake uh first of all congratulations being slept second 22nd overall to the Brooklyn Nets so we know this is a dream come true for you nba has always been the goal what are you feeling right now yeah just uh a lot of emotions really but I’d say the biggest one is just you know happiness and um I kept like my circle like pretty small i honest honestly could have had like a big party invited a bunch of uh different people but you know I just wanted to keep it small with the people that um I think know me best as a person um and uh yeah I’m just excited that I enjoy this moment with them
yeah uh what was it like in here you know getting that phone call and having the moment just kind of come all all together all at once and
sharing that with your family
yeah well it was it was extremely loud i couldn’t really um my ears were ringing a little bit and I couldn’t really you know stand up to greet anyone to you know for a hug or anything like that cuz my dad he was like running back and forth but um but nah I’m I’m just happy that I got to experience this with him
yeah and then it’s Brooklyn is you going to the big city in New York
um just tell me what what do you feel like what’s that feeling like going to the big city making that transition from small town growing up here and now getting to go up there and and do some big things
yeah the uh transition will be extremely difficult but um luckily I got a great support system and um I’ll meet a bunch of different people along the way that’ll uh make it even uh more easier
yeah and what was that conversation with the Brooklyn Nets organization like yeah it’s just um uh just like constant talks about you know wanting to you know take that next step in the uh NBA and uh I feel like I can you know help them get there and um yeah I think we’ll be uh good for a long time yeah i also want to ask you about uh just guess the local local angle of things and you know going through the history you’re the first from a a Chattam County high school to graduate from Chattam County High School to get this opportunity to get drafted to the NBA so when you hear that um just knowing you know being proud of where you’re from staying here at Northwood um and coming out of Pittsburgh what does that mean to you
yeah it uh it means a lot you know just uh like you said being the first to do that um it’s just you know something that I always dreamed of we wanted to continue to work hard towards and um you know just attack it with you know full focus and just fully invest and um yeah I’m just happy to see what’s next
yeah i also want to ask you uh because I know you’ve been busy with this whole draft process working out uh meeting with teams what has this process been like for you this past couple months
yeah just um traveling to uh different cities and just seeing u you know seeing the atmosphere of them i didn’t do that uh on my official visits you know me going to North Carolina committing on the spot but um but yeah it was just great uh seeing uh those different visit those different cities and you know flying on planes like um some even like back to back to back and um but no it was great overall
yeah and um when that process I mean how many teams did you work out with i mean who did you work out with and uh what were kind of the things you kind of felt you could add to these teams uh in on the next level
yeah uh so I worked out for 11 teams in uh total those being um uh Chicago um Brooklyn and then a couple more but um I’d say as far as like just trying to You can mention that
well my bad this Danny just got But um but uh no Back to your question what were you My fault i just Oh no you’re good
that’s all right folks we’re doing this live and we just saw Danny Wolf is going to be one of your teammates
yeah i guess to uh ask a better question um you know of course who who did you work out with and I guess why was Brooklyn the the best fit for you
yeah I just think um Brooklyn’s the best fit for me them being um a young team like trying to you know make a rebuild almost but um but yeah I just feel like it’s the the right fit and I think we’ll do damage
yeah i mean and I was going to ask you you’ve been seeing it all night brooklyn has had a lot of picks in this first round including you uh they picked the point guard from BYU just got Danny Wolf from Michigan so how excited are you to kind of join this big cohort of rookies coming into to the organization
yeah extremely excited and I’m not just you know attacking my um rookie season by myself i have these guys along by my side
um you say you want to bring you know of course help a team help the team be successful um and we know at UNCC you showed a lot of good things defensively and offensively especially with three-point shooting so um considering offensively what are some things you want to show on that end of the floor coming into the league
yeah just my um overall feel for the game i’d say that’s the main thing uh I feel like I’m a a good passer than most people think so um yeah I just say that’s the main thing so
yeah and um I want to go back to the to the local side of things man because you had a lot of people down at Hops and Berry celebrating you and um I’ve already show I’ve already showed the video video in a second but yeah they went crazy when when you got selected uh so what does it mean for you to have that type of support from this community uh on a night like tonight yeah that’s just um nothing but love really and um you know just the community of Pittsburgh coming together and um supporting me in a big way that that just means a lot like Yeah
yeah have you got a chance to hear from uh Coach Brown or
Oh yeah he he texted me before the draft it was great to hear from him
oh so what was your conversation with him like
yeah it was just that um you know he’s proud of me for uh being in this situation he said he knew from day one in high school that I was going to be a pro and um yeah it was just Yeah I I wouldn’t trade like anything for the world like making that decision to go um prep or to stay at North
yeah and have you heard from any of your guys at North that you play with uh yeah yep i heard from a friend Max Ashton Chad you know Cam a bunch of different guys y
and so yeah same thing kind of what what is their like with you uh Griffin as well
oh Griffin yeah yeah but um but yeah it’s just um you know a brotherhood a bond that we built for um a long time that that will last for a lifetime it’s just you know nice to have that relationship with them
yeah i also want to ask I mean your brother play at Northwood too uh deuce cousin as well hey and and your cousin yep your cousin played at Northwood too uh to have you know Northwood family blood and on the basketball court uh what does it mean to kind of share this moment with them
yeah it was just great seeing the way that they um operated their uh operated during their time at uh Northwood it was like it’s just like a great blueprint to follow almost and um I just wanted to you know attack that with the full force and um yeah I’m just happy to share this moment with them
yeah and uh my final question is like you said you you wouldn’t trade anything to to kind of go back and you would stay at Northwood right to do this all over again um and for a lot of young basketball players we got some talent here in Chattam County that’s coming up as well um what would you kind of say to those players on that caliber um as far as being able to come stay in this county develop and get to the level that you you’ve gotten to
yeah just uh a lot of hard work i’d say uh believe in yourself uh the most and um yeah you got to listen to your parents which is something I struggle with but yeah you got to listen to your parents all right and um also too what’s most exciting thing you’re uh looking forward to going going to Brooklyn
um definitely I got to catch um uh some St john’s games my boy Ian Jackson over there so yeah for sure
okay yeah I was about to say yeah you’re going to have you’re going to have a former teammate up there and um but what about the city anything you kind of excited for you know with the city and and going to experience something up there in Brooklyn
um possibly I don’t know just the I want to see if like the craziness of it is like really real i’d say that yeah
okay
all right i got a question um when you were going through the combine you seem to
well for lack of a better term kick butt u just tell us a little bit about that whole process
yeah um the combine so it lasted uh about a week and um but yeah I didn’t uh my parents they couldn’t make the trip to Chicago they were celebrating their uh anniversary so um luckily I was able to spend it with my uh siblings so I wasn’t just in Chicago by myself and um but yeah it was just a a great uh overall experience and um yeah I’m happy I got an experience with them and what point in the whole process because we kind of Asha and I kind of stayed back at what point did you say “Hey I’m definitely going through with this process of going through with the draft.”
Um
yeah it was definitely uh difficult i’d say just um
I’d say from the the combine probably that point probably like midway through the combine that’s probably when I made a decision all right