Gorman’s Shaq Powell impresses during national evaluating events

By Ray Brewer (contact)

Wednesday, April 20, 2011 | 2:05 a.m.

Bishop Gorman High rising senior running back Shaquille Powell has been one of Nevada’s top players the last two years in leading the Gaels to consecutive state championships.

His performances the last month at various scouting events have made Powell one of the nation’s best.

The 5-foot-9, 198-pound Powell had the third best score in early April in the SPARQ — the SAT of sorts for high school athletes, with the acronym standing for speed, power, agility, reaction and quickness — at the 12th Nike SPARQ Combine in Long Beach, Calif. The camp featured 1,100 west coast prospects.

Similar camps were held in Miami and Tampa, and Powell’s score of 116.58 still ranks in the top 10 of the nation.

“I expected I would do good, but that good, I was even a little shocked,” Powell said.

Powell’s time of 4.6 seconds in the 40-yard dash was average, but his 4.10 shuttle time was off the charts.

On the same weekend, Powell put on a show at the Nike Football Training Camp at USC, earning runner-up MVP honors for his position against 300 elite prospects. The event featured several one-on-one passing drills, where Powell was easily able to shake the defender guarding him.

“Everyone talks about Cali players and how they are the best,” said Powell, who has rushed for 2,837 yards and 46 touchdowns the past two years. “They seemed overrated to me. I competed with all of them.”

Despite all of the impressive stats and performances, Powell only has two scholarship offers — from Northern Arizona and Illinois, where he is being recruited by DeAndre Smith, teammate Ryan Smith’s father.

The lack of interest can be credited to Powell’s height.

“He weighs nearly 200 pounds (of all muscle) so that kind of answers those physical questions,” Gorman coach Tony Sanchez said. “He’s a guy who has always played much bigger than what he is. If he was 6-2, he would be going where ever he wants.”

Powell didn’t perform like someone who was undersized at the USC event.

“Powell was the top back during the one-on-one pass rushing drills, caught the ball very well out of the backfield and was tough to handle in the one on one make you miss drills,” wrote Greg Biggins of ESPN Rise. “Powell has been one of the state’s top backs since he was a sophomore and it’s one of the biggest mysteries in the region why the athlete is still waiting on his first offer.”

Powell was at his best last year in the Gaels’ biggest games. Against nationally ranked Hamilton High of Arizona, he rushed for a game-high 196 yards. The following week against Del Oro of Northern California, he dissected the defense for 243 yards and four touchdowns, and added 113 yards and two scores against perennial power De La Salle of California.

“I’m the type of guy who always wants to get the extra yards and never settles for less,” said Powell, who has added 10 pounds of bulk to his frame in the offseason in addition to competing in sprinting events for the track team. “I don’t want to get nine yards, I want to get the first down. I don’t want to be stopped on the 5-yard-line, I want to score a touchdown.”

His aggressive style of running isn’t limited to the games. He carries the same attitude in practice and scouting events.

“He’s a big-time back, a big-time player,” Sanchez said. “He plays angry. He plays with a chip on his shoulder, but he is a great teammate. He practices that way, too. He finishes every play. He is one of those old-school kids. He loves hard work.”

Powell wasn’t the lone local to post impressive scores at the Long Beach event.

Rising junior running back Marcus Williams of Durango took fourth overall in the testing with a score of 114.57.

In the vertical jump, Cimarron-Memorial's Demarye Williams posted the best distance at 39.3, while Palo Verde's Kam Heatley took fifth at 38.4. Legacy rising senior tailback L.J. McMorris was clocked at 4.43 seconds in the 40-yard dash, which was the third fastest time at the event. McMorris was limited by injuries last year in only rushing for 428 yards in five games.