Roger Powell enters his fourth season as an assistant coach on Mark Few’s staff. The Zags have compiled an impressive 90-7 record in his first three seasons on the GU staff. Gonzaga appeared in the 2021 national championship game, after winning its first 31 games of the season.
Prior to coming to Gonzaga, he was the associate head coach at Vanderbilt. Powell joined the Vanderbilt staff as associate head coach in April of 2016. In his first season at Vanderbilt, he helped guide the Commodores to the NCAA Tournament. Vanderbilt notched five top-25 wins, six top-50 victories and 11 top-100 RPI wins, played the toughest overall strength of schedule and toughest nonconference schedule in the nation.
Prior to Vanderbilt, Powell helped lead Valparaiso to 122 wins in his five seasons as a member of the Crusader coaching staff, including 28 victories in 2014-2015 and a school-record 30 wins in 2015-16. Valpo captured the Horizon League regular season title in four of his first five seasons, while the Crusaders' 2012-2013 and 2014-2015 squads also won the Horizon League tournament championship.
A three-year starter for the Illini during his playing days, Powell earned Honorable Mention All-Big Ten recognition in each of his final two seasons after being named to the Big Ten All-Tournament Team as a sophomore. Powell helped Illinois to three Big Ten regular season titles and a pair of Big Ten tournament championships during his time with the Illini, as well as berths in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament in 2002-2003 and 2003-2004. Powell helped Illinois to the most successful season in program history, as the Illini won 29 straight games to open the season en route to finishing 37-2, spent most of the season ranked No. 1 in the nation and advanced to the national championship game of the NCAA Tournament. Powell closed his four-year Illinois career with 1,178 points, among the top-30 scorers in Illini history, and 531 rebounds.
Following his collegiate career, Powell earned a spot in the Seattle SuperSonics training camp before eventually playing the 2005-2006 season for the Rockford Lightning of the CBA, where he earned CBA Rookie of the Year accolades. He then made the roster of the Utah Jazz for the 2006-2007 NBA season and spent the first half of the season with the Jazz before joining the Arkansas Rimrockers of the NBDL.
Off the court, Powell founded RPJ Ministries Organization, which mentors and trains young leaders to be Godly examples on their sports team and school campuses. He also founded Integrity Sports Corporation, a company focused on building basketball skills and integrity of high school and junior high athletes. Powell is a 2005 graduate of the University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign with a degree in speech communications, and also received his master's degree in Sports Administration from Valparaiso University in 2016. While also at Valpo, he received a certificate in Sports Media.
Powell and his wife, Tara, have four children Bria, Liam, Gabriel and Faith.
The Powell File
High School: Joliet West
College:
Illinois (2001-05)
Valparaiso (2016)
Education:
B.A., Speech Communications, 2005
Masters in Sports Administration, 2016
Playing Experience:
2001-05 - Illinois
2005–2006 - Rockford Lightning (CBA)
2006 - Utah Jazz (NBA)
2006–2007- Arkansas Rimrockers (D-League)
2007–2008 - Siviglia Wear Teramo (Italy)
2008–2009 - Hapoel Jerusalem (Israel)
2009–2010 - Murcia (Spain)
2010 - JDA Dijon (France)
2010–2011 - Skyliners Frankfurt (Germany)
Coaching Experience:
2019-present – Gonzaga Assistant Coach
2016-19 - Vanderbilt Associate Head Coach
2011-16 (5 years)– Valparaiso Assistant Coach
Hometown: Joliet, Illinois
