East St. Louis receiver Lawaun Powell joins two other Flyers at Kentucky D-1 program
A member of two state championship teams at East St. Louis High School, Flyers wide receiver Lawaun Powell Jr. is headed to the Bluegrass State to continue his football career
A 5-11, 192-pound senior, Powell announced on his Twitter account late Wednesday that he will attend Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky beginning later this summer.
Ranked as a three-star prospect and the No. 22 player in the Class of 2020 in Illinois by 247 Sports, Powell’s decision to join the Murray State program comes as a bit of a surprise. With offers from Kansas, Kentucky, Purdue and Virginia Tech, Powell had listed Illinois, Iowa State and Nebraska has his final three choices.
On Wednesday, Powell committed to join the Murray State Racers, an NCAA Division I-FCB program which competes in the Ohio Valley Conference. He’s the third East St. Louis player to commit to Murray this year.
Running back DaMonta Witherspoon and wide receiver Dylan Appleton also plan to play for the Racers.
Powell has been a key part of the Flyers program the last four years. As a freshman, Powell caught 12 passes for 188 yards on a Flyers team which finished 14-0 and won the Class 7A state title.
This past season, Powell caught 50 passes for 799 yards and four touchdowns for coach Darren Sunkett’s nationally-ranked squad which was 14-0 and won the Class 6A state crown.
For his career, Powell caught 132 passes for 2,310 yards and 29 touchdowns.
Murray State will have a new coach in 2020, Dean Hood, who was hired in December.
The Racers were 4-8 in 2019 and haven’t had a winning season since 2011.
