Roger Powell Jr. (born January 15, 1983) is an American former professional basketball player and current head coach of the Valparaiso Beacons men's basketball team. He previously served as an assistant coach at Gonzaga University.
Early Life and High School Career
Powell was born in Joliet, Illinois. He attended Joliet Central High School, where he was a three-year starter and four-year letter winner. As a senior, he averaged 20.7 points and nine rebounds, earning First Team All-State honors from multiple publications. He was considered a consensus Top 100 national prospect and finished fourth in Mr. Basketball of Illinois voting.
College Career
Powell played collegiately at the University of Illinois from 2001 to 2005. He graduated with a degree in speech communications.
As a sophomore (2002–03), he led the Big Ten in conference-game field goal percentage (64.1%) and was named to the Big Ten All-Tournament Team. In his junior season (2003–04), he was an honorable mention All-Big Ten selection, averaging 11.6 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. In the 2004 NCAA tournament, he scored 22 points in a second-round win over Cincinnati.
In his senior season (2004–05), Powell was again named honorable mention All-Big Ten and was a key contributor to Illinois' national runner-up team that tied an NCAA record with 37 wins. He averaged 12.0 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. He finished his college career with 1,178 points (26th in Illinois history) and a career field goal percentage of 57.2% (fifth in school history).
Professional Career
After going undrafted in the 2005 NBA draft, Powell played in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) for the Rockford Lightning, where he was named CBA Rookie of the Year (2006) and All-CBA Second Team. He briefly played for the Utah Jazz in the 2006–07 NBA season, appearing in NBA games and scoring his first points on November 18, 2006, against the Phoenix Suns.
He subsequently played in the NBA Development League for the Arkansas Rimrockers, earning the D-League's Jason Collier Sportsmanship Award (2007). His international career included stints with Teramo Basket (Italy), Hapoel Jerusalem (Israel), CB Murcia (Spain), JDA Dijon (France), and Skyliners Frankfurt (Germany). He retired from playing in 2011.
Coaching Career
Powell began his coaching career as an assistant at Valparaiso (2011–2016), then followed Bryce Drew to Vanderbilt as associate head coach (2016–2019). He served as an assistant at Gonzaga under Mark Few from 2019 to 2023.
On April 7, 2023, Powell returned to Valparaiso as head coach of the Beacons. Through the 2025–26 season, his overall record at Valparaiso is 40–59 (.404), with a 20–40 (.333) mark in Missouri Valley Conference play.
Personal Life
Powell is a Christian. He is married to Tara Powell, and they have four children. His father, Roger Powell Sr., was a basketball standout at Joliet Central High School and Illinois State University.
