How former NBA stars helped prepare two Rutgers freshmen for college basketball's highest level
Chris Nwuli‘s face lit up.
Towards the end of his session with the media at Rutgers‘ open practice and media day, a question on his relationship with six-time NBA All-Star Jermaine O’Neal – and Nwuli’s head coach at Dynamic Prep (TX) for a half-season – popped up.
“You just got me reminiscing, man, I ain’t gonna lie!” Nwuli answered with a wide smile.
Kaden Powers, another incoming member of the Scarlet Knights’ 2025 recruiting class, had similar guidance. Three-time NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award winner Jamal Crawford, now an assistant coach for his and Powers’ alma mater Rainier Beach, had mentored the guard since early on in his high school days.
“He’s taught me a lot, my relationship with him is really good,” said Powers, beaming a similar smile to his fellow freshman counterpart.
The background
The two West Coast natives hail from similar areas, but each have their own separate pathways to Piscataway.
Nwuli, originally a native of Chatsworth, California, played all over the west side of the Mississippi River in high school, for several highly-regarded programs. He spent time in four different states, first at Bishop Gorman (Nevada), then Wasatch Academy (Utah), before splitting time his senior year at Sierra Canyon (California) and Dynamic Prep (Texas).
Powers’ prep career largely stayed in the same location, with the Seattle native playing for traditional public power Rainier Beach, known for producing NBA-level talent such as Crawford, Doug Christie, Kevin Porter Jr., Nate Robinson, and Dejounte Murray. Powers and Crawford first became connected prior to his sophomore year with the Vikings, after the young guard had suffered a long-term injury. From there, the relationship blossomed, as did Powers’ playing skills and Crawford’s coaching acumen.
Prepared for the biggest moments
Even though Nwuli’s time with the Bearcats lasted only half of his senior year, the lessons learned and experiences with O’Neal and Dynamic Prep will stay with the young power forward for the rest of his career.
“He taught us at Dynamic how to prepare for games,” Nwuli told TKR. “Because you can learn all this extra stuff, the dribbles, this-and-that. It’s really to prepare. How to prepare is to be ready.”
The 6-foot-8, bouncy wing not only learned the intangibles during his time in Texas. He also won plenty of games.
Led by Nwuli and the SMU-bound duo Jaden Toombs and Jermaine O’Neal Jr., Dynamic Prep went on a big-time run to close the season. At the 2025 Chipotle Nationals – the top high school basketball tournament in the nation – the Bearcats nearly won it all, despite entering as the tenth and final seed. They defeated seventh-seeded Montverde Academy (FL) in the play-in game, before pulling upsets against second-seeded Link Academy (MO) and sixth-seeded Prolific Prep (CA), all chock-full of high-major and potential NBA talents.
While Dynamic Prep ultimately fell in the title game to top-seeded Columbus (FL), led by the Duke-bound Boozer twins, Nwuli put himself on the national map with a string of strong performances, including 20 points and six rebounds against Prolific Prep.
O’Neal continued to instill the art of preparation and mindset into Nwuli and the rest of the Bearcats, especially in a postseason setting.
“If you’re not ready for the games, if you’re not ready to tie your shoe, little details like that, he’ll make us really emphasize [them],” Nwuli added. “He’ll inscribe it in us if we don’t really get it.”
Powers had a similar postseason reign in high school, reaching the state championship twice in each of his final two years at Rainier Beach, including a WIAA 3A title in 2025. Powers and incoming Texas Tech freshman Jaylen Petty led the way in a 68-48 victory over Edmonds-Woodway, with Crawford on staff as an assistant coach, still mentoring Powers.
“Every time I work out with him, it’s something different,” he said. “It’s, like, secrets of playing a game and the pace and the feel, from college and going into the NBA. He’s trying to get me there.”
Beyond basketball
Even across the country, Nwuli still keeps up with O’Neal. The two are talk constantly, even late at night, talking about basketball and life in general.
“I feel like with him, I’ve never learned so much through basketball and as a man,” Nwuli said, after pausing for a moment. “And I feel like that’s what he emphasized most, is me being a man. He wanted me to be the best as a man, and I really appreciate him for that.”
Both Nwuli and Powers have talked about their backgrounds, given the unique development path.
“To come together and talk about different experiences and things that they’ve learned is really fun,” the former said. “Because they were playing in the same area at one point too, so they know basketball at a certain level. But I feel like me and KP have, I wouldn’t say an edge, but we know a lot more than some [have] experienced.”
Powers’ mentor has even added an extra level of excitement.
“Knowing him playing with Jamal, that’s a childhood hero to me. It’s Jamal Crawford,” Nwuli said with a chuckle. “To see how he plays, and his mentality, and how Jamal Crawford really helped him with stuff, I feel like, is big. It helped me a lot.”
Last year’s Scarlet Knights squad was shaped by the NBA’s future, led by Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey, but this year’s team will be led by lessons learned from the NBA’s past for the program’s present.
“He just wants us to be more than just basketball players,” Nwuli said of his coach and mentor. “We’re young Black men in this world, trying to be better, trying to make a difference.”
“That’s what he does. And that’s all I want to do. I want to be like him.”
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