Just about every college basketball fan in New Jersey will have an eye on Seton Hall’s game against Rutgers at the Rutgers Athletic Center in Piscataway on Saturday night. With the Pirates nationally ranked and Rutgers’ program ascending, this one could be the spark to a renewed rivalry.
But Noel Powell III won’t be there. In fact, he won’t be in attendance for a single game this season as his brother, Myles, completes a magical college career. But from behind bars at the Monmouth County Correctional Institution in Freehold, Noel is able to watch some of his All-America brother’s performances.
“The guards and stuff, they let him watch some of the games that are on national television,” Myles told NJ Advance Media. “They’re big fans in the jail, they’re very nice to him. They let him watch the games when they come on. They bring a radio to his cell so he can listen to the games and stuff. He’s a big fan of ours, not just mine, but Seton Hall.”
Noel Powell is in protective custody for 23 hours a day and faces a sentence of 30 years to life in prison. In what became known as the “Applebee’s murder,” he was indicted in February of 2018 for first-degree murder and weapons offenses after allegedly shooting a man in the back of the head while the man sat at the bar of a chain restaurant in Lawrence, N.J.
A witness who knew both men watched it happen, and the restaurant’s security cameras recorded the crime, court documents say. Powell hasn’t been tried yet and his next court date is scheduled for Jan. 27 at the Mercer County Criminal Courthouse in Trenton.
During his one hour of daily recreation, Noel makes a phone call to Myles, and the two talk like brothers often do.
“He’s in solitary right now, so I have another very important person in my life living through me right now,” Myles said. “I get to talk to him every day for about 15 minutes. He calls me from the phone, I got money on my phone, so we talk every day.
“When he gets his hour of daylight, he calls me. I look forward to it. That’s a part of my routine every day and I know when he calls me for those 15 minutes, I have to give him the best news that he can have because I know that’s what he’s going back to, and that’s what he’s living through and that’s where we’re at right now with our situation. So for that to be my big brother, someone I looked up to, it was time for me to grow up. I took the challenge, and I feel like I’m handling it very well.”
Count Michigan State coach Tom Izzo among those who feels Myles is handling the situation well. On Izzo’s way into his postgame press conference after a victory over Seton Hall on Nov. 14 at Prudential Center, Pirates coach Kevin Willard mentioned Noel’s situation to the Naismith Hall of Fame coach.
“I said, ‘What a tribute to the kid,’” Izzo said. “I liked the kid, but I liked him more when I saw him on the court. And I liked him more the way he acted and he made shots and he didn’t talk [garbage] and he didn’t do all this and that. When you’ve got the mental toughness to deal with the things he’s dealing with, that’s what superstars do, you know?”
Seton Hall's Myles Powell stitched a message about his brother into a jacket he wore to the Big East Media Day. (Adam Zagoria | For NJ Advance Media)
Brothers going in different directions
Noel, 29, and Myles Powell, 22, are the two oldest children of Jeannette Moore, who works for the state Department of Human Services and splits much of her free time between Seton Hall games and visiting Noel in prison and attending his court dates.
Last Friday morning, she sat for more than three hours in the back row of courtroom 3B at the Mercer County Criminal Courthouse in Trenton. Stella Leggett, Noel and Myles’ grandmother, sat next to Moore for support. One of Noel’s younger cousins, Augustus Powell, was also there.
Finally, Noel was escorted by a bailiff into Judge Darlene J. Pereksta’s courtroom. Wearing handcuffs, glasses and a yellow jumpsuit with “MCCI” in black letters on the back, he looked toward his mother and grandmother as he entered the courtroom. In a brief session, Pereksta ruled on his next court date.
As he left the courtroom, a reporter asked Noel for a quick comment on his brother’s season. Powell did not respond.
Through prison officials, Noel had previously declined to be interviewed for this story. His attorney, Robin Lord, did not return several phone calls seeking comment.
Asked in an earlier interview what it was like having one son adorning numerous billboards in North Jersey as the face of Seton Hall basketball and the other son only visible during court dates and prison visiting hours, Moore called the combination “bittersweet.”
“But I’m grateful for every blessing,” she said. “They say the amount of times we look at things when it’s meant for our bad, God turns it around for our good, whatever that good is. And I hope that we come to see that. “
Growing up with their parents in Trenton, both boys showed an early love for basketball. Myles got into the sport at a very young age.
“Yes, absolutely,” his mother said. “Before he could say, ‘Dad,’ he said, ‘Ball.’ He wanted a ball. Before he was even walking, he wanted a ball in his hand more than a bottle.”
Like many brothers, Myles and Noel played basketball against each other. Moore said the boys also played with their father, Noel Powell II, whom she called a “great player.” (Moore and Noel II are no longer together.)
Moore said her son Noel was actually “better” than Myles at basketball when they were young, but noticed quickly that the two boys were very different. She said Noel battled ADHD but never took medication for it because that was not common at that time.
“With him growing up, ADHD and attention deficit, it wasn’t a big thing back in the ‘90s and it’s just become something big and now there’s more education upon it,” she said. “Before you used to put it aside and they tried putting a statistic on your child and it wasn’t that case. It’s more real today than it was then.”
The condition led to Noel not being a good listener and having trouble following directions, his mother said. By contrast, she said Myles was always a good listener.
“It was a difference between Myles was a listener and Noel, he thought he knew it all,” she said. Though she described Noel as “very intelligent,” that pattern stuck with Noel throughout his life and led to him making “wrong choices,” she said.
“The energy that he had, he placed it in the wrong things instead of the right things,” she said. “And had he had the medication or whatever they’re using today for it, it probably would’ve changed his life for the better.”
The spiritual approach Moore and her family are taking to Noel’s situation was reflected on Big East Media Day at Madison Square Garden earlier this month. Myles wore a blue suit with the phrase “Free Big Nutty” stitched into the inside pocket in red lettering.
Moore, who speaks to Noel almost daily and visits him most Fridays at the jail in Freehold, said the message is more about her oldest son freeing himself spiritually and mentally than physically.
“A lot of people look at it like we’re saying free [him] from incarceration but we’re looking at it as free mind, body and soul, free the whole person,” Moore said.
A murder at Applebee’s
In the early morning of Nov. 14, 2017, Noel allegedly shot 23-year-old Devin Smith while he was drinking by himself shortly before 12:30 a.m. inside the Applebee’s on Route 1 in Lawrence. Smith was pronounced dead at the scene.
Two law-enforcement officials told NJ.com the execution-style shooting stemmed from a decades-old dispute involving the two men and their families. Family members won’t talk about the specifics of the case or the grudge for the alleged shooting. Assistant prosecutor Mike Nardelli was not in court on Friday due to an illness and will not comment on the case while it’s pending, a spokesman said.
Prosecutors said Powell fled the restaurant in a dark Chevy Tahoe and he turned himself into authorities days later.
Before his arrest, Powell had no convictions and worked for the postal service. He had completed three years of college and worked at the Ann Klein Forensic Center, which treats clients with mental illness who are in the judicial system.
Smith was the father of a 3-year-old girl and his family and friends mourned his loss.
“He was a great person, a great friend, a great partner,” Briana Anderson, Smith’s former girlfriend, told NBC10 at the time.
Smith was said to have many friends and no known enemies.
Kavon Marshall, a friend who considered Smith his little brother, told the television station, “I do miss him. I don’t even know what kind of monster would do this.”
‘It was time to grow up’
The shooting occurred during Myles’ sophomore year at Seton Hall, and changed his life forever.
“I mean, it was tough,” Myles said. “It was time for me to grow up. It’s a gift and a curse. When I lost him, I knew it was time to grow up. It made me look at life a lot more serious.
“I got closer to God, I got closer to faith. I gave my life up to faith pretty much. And just little things that mattered to me before didn’t matter to me anymore. And I put a goal to my life and I wanted to change and I wanted to do better.”
Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard has seen Powell mature over last few years since his brother’s been incarcerated.
“I think early on it was a negative,” Willard said. “But I think he’s learned a lot and I think he’s turned it into a positive as he moves through life and understands the challenges that he faces. I think it kind of makes him who he is and I think he’s growing from it every day.”
Coming out of Trenton, Powell was always a tough kid. Willard said his star player was formed by his hometown and his family’s experience.
Myles Powell (left) and his brother Noel as kids. (Photo courtesy Myles Powell)
“I think what makes him so tough on the court is kind of what he had to go through off the court to get there,” Willard said. “It is who he is. I always say there’s times I want to get Trenton out of him and there’s times I’m glad Trenton’s in him. I think he’s matured a lot to understand the good and the bad.”
Powell’s body is covered with tattoos, all having to do with his family.
One features Noel’s initials. Another on his left side features the lyrics to D Block’s “Brother’s Keeper.”
“Whatever I got you can get it
If I ain't got it I'ma go out an' get it
We split it, we did it"
‘I learned what not to do’
With his senior season in full swing, Myles is making national headlines.
He scored 37 points in the Michigan State loss on a bad ankle, and then poured in 26 in an 83-66 rout of Saint Louis. He went for 32 in a loss to then-No. 11 Oregon before Thanksgiving. Entering the Rutgers game, No. 16 Seton Hall is 6-2 and Powell is averaging 22.9 points per game, sixth in the nation.
After being named the Big East Preseason Player of the Year and to the preseason Associated Press All-America Team, Powell is now on the watch lists for the Wooden, Naismith, Oscar Robertson and Jerry West Awards.
“I don’t know if there’s a better player in America,” Saint Louis coach Travis Ford said. “There might be somebody just as good, but there’s not anybody better.”
Shakur Juiston, a forward at Oregon from Newark and a longtime friend of Powell’s, said the situation with Noel has forced Myles to mature.
“It’s just one of those things that puts you in a different mindset,” Juiston said. “Me and Myles talked about it...after the situation happened so you could just tell how his mindset changed on the court and how he’s trying to make a way for his family and I totally respect that. So I always applaud him for his game but now you can see that it’s changed, just with the circumstances and the things that are circling in his mind.”
Juiston added he has no doubt Powell will have “a professional career.” Indeed, Powell is now ranked among the top 50 NBA prospects for the 2020 Draft, according to ESPN.com.
Former NBA and Seton Hall coach P.J. Carlesimo says he has no doubt Powell will be in the NBA.
“No question,” he said. “There’s no question that he’s an NBA player.”
Through it all, Myles continues to speak to his brother daily. During the calls, Myles updates his brother on life at Seton Hall and his basketball career. Just hearing each other’s voices is soothing for both men.
“We just catching up, we pray a lot,” Myles said. “He’s a big man of faith, he’s reading the bible every day. He’s spirits are high. He just helps me stay level-headed. It’s just regular big brother-little brother conversations and that’s pretty much it.”
Moore says Noel talks often about his younger brother.
“He just says how proud he is of him, to keep doing what he loves to do,” she said.
Myles will be the first member of his family to graduate from college, something his family is proud of.
“Everything that I could have gotten out of college, I feel like I got out of it,” he said. “I’ve got to get my diploma. I’ll be the first person in my family to ever graduate from college. The relationships that I have, graduating from one of the best schools in Jersey and being a Jersey kid ... everything that I could ask for and wanted out of college, I got out of college.”
For Myles, his brother is always with him, a reminder that he is playing for much more than himself.
“I feel like God never makes mistakes,” Powell said. “That’s what I’m learning and I feel like he picks his tougher shoulders to go through different battles. He picked my brother for him to go through a different battle than I had to go through.
“But you live and you learn and I got to live through my brother and got to watch him go through the tough times that he went through for me to learn what to do and what not to do.”
Adam Zagoria is a freelance reporter who covers Seton Hall and NJ college basketball for NJ Advance Media.