Penn men’s basketball junior forward TJ Power is “ready to play this weekend,” according to The Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Jonathan Tannenwald.
In a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, Tannenwald wrote, “Penn coach Fran McCaffery tells me that star transfer T.J. Power is ‘ready to play this weekend’ after missing much of the preseason with an elbow injury.”
McCaffery did not confirm to the Inquirer the number of minutes Power will see along with whether the former five-star recruit will be ready for Penn’s Friday opener against Rowan or wait until Sunday’s match at American.
A request for comment was left with Penn Athletics.
The Daily Pennsylvanian previously reported that Power would be “shooting” to return before the start of the season, according to McCaffery. At the time, he described Power as having an “upper-body injury.” He did not initially describe it as an elbow injury, but Power was seen with a brace on his right arm.
“He’s not in practice yet,” McCaffery told The Daily Pennsylvanian on Oct. 24. “He’s not been cleared to play yet, but I think in time he will be. It’s day-by-day. So we’ll see. We’re shooting for the first game, see if that happens — if not, hopefully shortly thereafter.”
It seems that McCaffery’s timeline for the Mid-Major Madness Ivy League Preseason Newcomer of the Year was on track.
In 2023, Power was a top-20 recruit coming out of high school. He originally committed to Duke alongside now-Philadelphia 76ers guard Jared McCain. Power ultimately saw limited minutes at Duke, scoring just 2.1 points per game. After a season with the Blue Devils, Power made his way to Virginia. With the Cavaliers, he did not gain significant minutes, playing 9.3 minutes per game last season. Power ultimately opted to transfer for the second time in as many years, landing at Penn due to his prior connection with McCaffery.
“[Penn is] very different from Virginia. Virginia is slower-paced and very defensive-oriented. But here, [McCaffery] lets us play [with] a lot of freedom on offense,” Power previously told the DP on Oct. 25. “We’ll be able to play really fast and shoot a lot of threes, and kind of keep teams on their heels at all times.”
