Finally, TJ Power is a Wahoo; transfer from Duke to UVA

By Jerry Ratcliffe

It took a year longer than Tony Bennett had hoped, but 6-foot-9 forward TJ Power is finally a Cavalier.

Power, who spent the last season as a freshman at Duke, but who recently transferred out of the Blue Devils program, announced Monday afternoon that he had committed to Virginia. He has three years of eligibility remaining.

UVA hotly pursued Power, a native of Shrewsbury, Conn., all of 2022 before the big man signed with Duke over the Cavaliers, North Carolina, Kentucky, Kansas, UCLA and USC.

This time around, Virginia had to beat out Kentucky once again, along with Arkansas, USC, Michigan, Notre Dame, Miami, Wake Forest, Iowa and others for his services.

At 6-9, 216, Power appeared in 26 games for Duke this past season but didn’t get much playing time as a true freshman. He averaged 6.7 minutes per game, which, combined with the fact that Duke added more recruits to its frontcourt, prompted his transfer with the hopes of making more of an impact in another program.

During last season in Durham, Power averaged 2.1 points per game, shot 33 percent from the field, but the majority of his field-goal attempts (42 of 51) came from the 3-point arc, where he made 33.3 percent of those.

The former 4-star is a welcomed addition to the Virginia program, who will add depth to a depleted frontcourt and boost UVA’s offensive threat from the perimeter.