Sport: Basketball
Born: July 7, 1997
Town: Trenton, New Jersey
Myles Blake Powell was born July 7, 1997 in Trenton, NJ. He was the second of eight children and a bg fan of Alen Iverson and the Philadelphia 76ers. A quick, powerful athlete with tremendous body control, he gravitated toward basketball and developed good ball handling and passing skills along with a deadly outside shot. He was already pegged as a future college star during his freshman year at Medford Technical School.
Myles moved his game to Trenton Catholic and finally to the South Kent School, a boarding school in Connecticut with strong academics and a top hoops program. Among its NBA alumni is Isaiah Thomas, who starred in college for Washington and was an NBA All-Star in 2016 and 2017. Wherever Myles played, he was a prolific scorer. When the scholarship offers started rolling in, he picked Seton Hall.
After coming off the bench as a Freshman for the Pirates, Myles earned a starting role in 2017–18 and was named the Big East’s Most Improved Player. Seton Hall qualified for the NCAA Tournament that March and Myles tallied 19 points and 9 rebounds in a first-round win over NC State. He was nearly as good in a second-round loss to Kansas.
Myles blossomed into a superstar as a junior, averaging 23.1 points and broke a school record with 107 3-pointers. He was named first-team All-Big East and won the Haggerty Award as the top player in the NY/Metro area. His best game came in an upset of Kentucky when he netted 25 points in the second half plus overtime. In March, Myles scored 29 points in the first half against Georgetown to set a new Big East Tournament record. He also had a 27-point game in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, but Seton Hall lost to Wofford. That summer, Myles suited up for Team USA in the Pan American Games.
As a senior in 2019–20, Myles averaged over 20 points a game again, was named a first-team All-American and won the Jerry West Award as the nation’s top-shooting guard. Seton Hall hadn’t had a consensus All-American since Walter Dukes in 1953. He repeated as the Haggerty Award winner and was named Big East Player of the Year—the first Pirate since Terry Dehere in 1993 to be so honored. Myles did all that on a sore right knee, which he was told would not get worse if he continued to play. He later sued the school for negligence after determining that he had suffered a torn meniscus.
Myles had been thinking about a pro career since he was a kid and was understandably disappointed when he went undrafted in 2020. He rehabbed his knee and signed a deal with the Knicks in the fall of 2021. Myles played for their G League team in Westchester but never made it to the Garden. He also signed a two-way deal with the 76ers but did not suit up for Philly. In 2022, Myles signed with the Manila-based Bay Area Dragons, who play in the East Asia Super League, which encompasses top clubs in China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and the Philippines. He averaged over 30 points a game for the Dragons and was beloved by Filipino basketball fans.