Getting To Know Shaq Powell — 2012 RB Commit

You had everybody on pins and needles out here yesterday waiting to see when your Letter of Intent was going to be faxed in. Take me to Wednesday morning when you were signing your LOI.

I didn’t wait to send my LOI in until late on purpose. I wasn’t trying to upstage anybody, I just don’t have a fax machine at my house. I had to go to school and get my coach to do it but he was in a meeting when I got to school (at 8 AM). My teammate (Ronnie Stanley – going to Notre Dame) and I were waiting for like 20 minutes until we finally had to go to the Athletic Director and get him to do it. It wasn’t on purpose that it came in later.

I played a joke on my mom while I was waiting and told her that I wasn’t going to sign my papers until later and that I was having second thoughts about committing to Duke. She got so mad and kept calling me over and over but I didn’t answer (laughing). She actually was so upset that I think she called one of the Duke coaches or they called her and she told them what I said to her because Coach Cut had me get in touch with him. He was all worried and I had to tell him that I was just playing a joke on my mom. (He eventually signed at 8:30 AM).

Did your mom play a big part in you picking Duke?

My mom has always let it be my decision but I always wanted her to feel confident in where I was going to school, feel confident in the coaching staff, and the program.

You tweeted that you had reservations about Duke going after Jela Duncan the night before signing day. What are your thoughts on that now that he signed to be your teammate?

I don’t really care about that either way. I don’t know much about him, never seen him play, but from what it sounds like we could be a great duo. Whatever helps us win games, I’m down with.

Did you celebrate all day today? What was your family’s reaction?

I actually never told my mom that I had signed. I guess the coaches told her that I sent the paper work in. The whole day I was just ignoring her calls (laughing) so she had some words to say to me at my signing day ceremony. It was a pretty hectic day. Lots of support from my school – they showed a lot of love.

You have been honored as a Parade All-American, the ESPNHS.com Nevada Player of the Year, and got picked to be on the The News Tribune’s Western 100. You’ve got all the hardware. Talk about what it took to get there.

It’s all hard work. All throughout my career I’ve been a very underrated player. People have always pointed out things that I could improve on. A lot of those things I didn’t see as a problem, but I took it in and worked on them a lot. Senior year I could tell that all the weights, running and extra conditioning really propelled me into my senior year. Then, they said I was too slow. Then, it was my line was so good that I didn’t have to do anything. All those awards, I could care less about them. It’s more telling everyone that was doubting me that I can do this. You don’t have to doubt me anymore. People told me I was too skinny my sophomore and junior years.

Do you take that motivation with you on the field? Watching your videos, you can see that you run with a little bit of a mean streak.

Yeah, I do. There will always be haters, there will always be doubters. The one thing you have to do is prove them wrong.

You played on both sides of the ball some in high school. Obviously, the scouts like you as a running back. Where do you have more fun? Read more