Gamecocks Alum Carlos Powell Leaving NBDL for China

Carlos Powell decided to leave the NBDL and accept an offer from Liaoning, in the CBA (Chinese Basketball Association), to continue his professional basketball career.

On his twitter account – @CarlosPowell7 – he called this move a “business decision.” 

In his last game with the Albuquerque Thunderbirds he nearly had a triple-double, with 18 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists.  That effort was a nice way to go out despite getting the loss by the score of 102-97 to the Bakersfield Jam last Tuesday night.

Mr. Powell has proven he can play with the big boys, just a few weeks ago he was a selection for the D-League All-Star game and was eighth in the league with a 22 point per game average as of last Tuesday.  A little over a month ago, Carlos Powell, was named NBA Development League Performer of the Week for games played during the week of Jan. 4.  Powell twice earned the award during the 2007-08 season.  Most scouts had rated him as a Top 15 prospect in the NBDL and thought he should have been in the NBA by now with one of the NBA affiliated teams of his NBDL team – Miami Heat or Dallas Mavericks.

Carlos now will put his game on display for the Liaoning Dinosaurs, who are based in the northeastern China province of Liaoning and the port city of Yingkou.  You may recall, there is another Gamecock who recently made the move to China – Tre Kelly.

Calos Powell’s Pro Career has included some twists to get to this point:

• After college, Powell played professionally for SL Benfica in Portugal where he was the fourth leading scorer in the league.
• Powell played for the New Zealand Breakers of the Australian National Basketball League during the 2006-2007 season.
• Carlos played for the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Summer League in 2007. After failing to arrange a contract, he was signed by the Ukrainian team Azovmash Mariupol.
• On November 1, 2007 Carlos was selected 2nd overall in the draft by the Dakota Wizards.
• He played in the D-League in the 2007-08 season before leaving to play professionally in South Korea.
• Powell returned to the D-League before the start of this season after being picked No. 1 in the 2009 D-League draft by Albuquerque.

Powell, while a Gamecocks Basketball star, was notable for receiving the NIT Most Valuable Player award, in the NIT tournament. Other honors he received include 2003-2004 All SEC, 2004-2005 Preseason All SEC, and 2005 Team outstanding rebounder. Throughout his four-year career, he scored over 1500 points (1541), 600 rebounds (641), and 70 3-point field goals (71). He also holds the school record for most games played in with 132.

I feel this is just a move to better position himself to be selected in the upcoming NBA Draft and to sharpen his skills while getting a few more bucks in his pocket.  We wish him the best!