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MSU Texas alum Nick Powell thriving at high school alma mater

Andy Newberry
28 April 2026
5 min read

Nick Powell was a multi-sport star athlete years ago at Henrietta High School. So it definitely looked like a dream come true when Powell returned in 2024 to coach the Bearcats’ boys basketball team and teach at his alma mater.

And Powell’s Bearcats had a spectacular playoff run in the UIL Class 3A playoffs, winning a regional title before losing on a last-second shot in the state semifinals.

But Powell didn’t always see himself coaching high school basketball. There were some twists and turns since he’d signed to play basketball with the late Nelson Haggerty’s MSU Mustangs. He planned to become a teacher and coach, but when it proved difficult to work in student teaching with his basketball schedule, he switched and earned his bachelor’s degree in Applied Arts and Sciences in 2018.

And he spent the next five years as a graduate assistant and then assistant coach at MSU Texas under Haggerty and Justin Leslie.

Powell played very sparsely as a freshman in 2013-14 and a little more in 2015-16, including a 10-point game against Oklahoma Science & Arts and a three-block night against Oklahoma City. But Powell’s importance as a team player was evident even when he wasn’t playing much, and he earned an important spot as a power forward with shooting range off the bench as a junior and senior. He averaged 6.1 points in 2016-17, including a 20-point career high against St. Gregory’s, and he averaged 6.9 points and four rebounds as a senior. He made five 3-pointers against Texas A&M-Commerce and 11 against rival Tarleton State.

And his favorite memory was scoring the 100th point in a 112-68 rout of Eastern New Mexico at the Lone Star Conference Tournament on March 2, 2016. Just like yesterday, he recalls, “it was a pick and pop from Jordan Stevens.” Stevens, who later went viral for his highlights in the NBA Summer League, was the tournament MVP, and Powell was again a Lone Star Conference champion.

Powell was a big fish in a little pond in high school, like many athletes, but he had the chance to experience the game as a role player in college, giving him perspective that probably helped him as a coach. “Everybody at that level is as good as you. You have to work,” he said.

The playoff success at Henrietta was a blast for Powell as the Bearcats defeated Tolar, Wall, Slaton, and Lamesa to win Region I-3A.

“It was pretty great playing (for the Mustangs),” Powell said. “I played on really good teams. We were No. 1 in the country for a month, we won a conference championship, and a tournament championship. The thing I refer to most is that college basketball is guys from all different backgrounds. We were working toward a goal with a bunch of random strangers. It was pretty neat to play with all those guys.”

Powell exemplified the “student/athlete” that MSU Texas stresses. Powell twice made the LSC (Lone Star Conference) Commissioner’s Honor Roll and twice earned the Mustang Scholar Award.

Nick Powell shooting the basketball while he was a player at Midwestern State

Nick Powell with his wife Anni after winning a high school basketball game at Henrietta High School — Nick Powell with his wife Anni and their child celebrating a win for the Henrietta High School Bearcats.

But losing a close one in the semifinals was still a tough pill to swallow. One more basket and the Bearcats would have enjoyed a trip to San Antonio for the state championship game.

“They’d never had success, and they just didn’t know how to win, so it was a good challenge,” Powell said. “The job came up, and they reached out, and my nephew was a junior on the team.

“They were definitely coachable, and it’s been great to see them have success and see what that was like on a wild run to state (semifinals).”

Powell said fundamentally, there’s not much difference between coaching high school and college. “With both teams, you are trying to teach to play with cohesiveness between the seven or eight who are playing and those who aren’t playing as much. “Get them to understand that it’s bigger than themselves, and that’s what we figured out,” Powell said. “We have a great group of kids we brought back from last year. We had some adversity early in the season and a tough district. But we just honed in defensively. They love to guard (play defense), and they didn’t care who scored the points. We played our best basketball in the playoffs.”

A close loss isn’t fun whether it’s in a Lone Star Conference game for the Mustangs or as coach of the Henrietta Bearcats, Powell admitted. But his experience helped him in that moment when Paradise hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to end Henrietta’s season, 38-35.

“As a coach, it’s a little easier to see the big picture, but you know reality is that, in high-level games, you’re not going to walk in and win by 20,” Powell said. “Seeing that go in, reality hits. We played good enough to win, and it wasn’t that shot that beat us.”

“I told them afterward that if you apply the same mindset to life that they did to this team, then you’re going to be successful,” Powell said. “I asked them not to let this be the last time you work this hard for something!”

Powell is really happy that he continued his education path while coaching, as he earned his Master’s in Sports Administration from MSU Texas. “They really correlate the study to skills that you will use,” Powell said. “It’s a good program. You’re learning how to manage people, facility use, handling a team, and I think those skills will help in any area of life.”

Powell and his wife, Anni Scholl Powell, both graduated from MSU Texas. Anni, who was a fan favorite for the Mustangs’ women’s basketball team (2015-19), graduated from Gunn College and works as a nurse.