Powell enjoys trip to Arizona

Shaquille Powell could have headed to USC's junior day with Las Vegas (Nev.) Bishop Gorman teammate Ron Scoggins this past weekend but instead opted for Arizona with Gorman standout Ronnie Stanley and Powell was not disappointed at all with his decision.

The 5-foot-10, 185-pound all-purpose back thoroughly enjoyed his trip to Arizona, learned a lot about the program and said the Wildcats did a lot to impress him. Powell still has no offers despite back-to-back impressive seasons at Bishop Gorman but Arizona's staff said they're highly interested.

"It's a beautiful place," Powell said. "I liked it. It resembles Las Vegas so it feels like I'm in Vegas still. The campus is really nice and the coaches are really nice and really friendly. They acted like they knew us. We got to attend the basketball game against Oregon so that was really good. It went pretty good.

"I could see myself there. They have a very good fan base and it seems like everybody is going all out for their team. They're really interested in sports there and that really impressed me."

It's surprising that Powell has not received any offers yet especially after he rushed for 1,292 yards and 17 touchdowns in his junior season.

Powell had 1,555 yards and 29 scores as a sophomore. Rivals.com includes him on its top 250 to watch list. Arizona's staff said they're going to keep him high on the radar but the Wildcats did not offer.

"I talked to their running backs coach and he told me their interest for me is high," Powell said. "An offer I don't know about yet."

Unofficial visits to Nebraska, Auburn, Alabama and USC are being planned over the next couple months. Powell said his first intention was to visit the Trojans with Scoggins but plans got mixed up so he ended up going to Arizona with Stanley instead.

"I was trying to get to USC but I was trying to get a ride and it was already 10 o'clock at night and plans got messed up," Powell said. "USC was the first one I was going to go to."