Powers, a native of Glen Cove, New York, played on the hockey and tennis teams at Brown University. He was an All-Ivy first-team selection for singles in 1973 and on the professional tour had a best world ranking of 210. At the 1974 Volvo International in Bretton Woods he saved a match point to defeat Wimbledon junior finalist Ashok Amritraj in the first round, before falling in his next match to Rod Laver.
