The PIT: Who’s coming, who’s not and which Final Four team and ACC squads are represented?
Sixty-four pro basketball hopefuls converge on Churchland High School in Portsmouth this week for the 69th annual Portsmouth Invitational Tournament.
Scouts from the NBA and other professional leagues will be watching when games begin tonight and finish with Saturday’s 7 p.m. championship game. The PIT’s celebrity luncheon is at 11:30 a.m. Friday at the Renaissance Norfolk-Portsmouth Waterfront Hotel and features as keynote speaker former North Carolina star Shammond Williams, now an Old Dominion women’s basketball assistant coach.
The PIT is not the marquee destination it once was for college basketball’s top stars — Tim Hardaway, Dennis Rodman, John Stockton and Scottie Pippen are among the notable alums. But there’s plenty of intriguing talent on the court and on the sidelines:
Familiar rivals
UCLA’s Tyger Campbell and Gonzaga’s Rasir Bolton are on the Portsmouth Sports Club roster after their teams met in a memorable NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 game. The Zags rallied to win that one 79-76 on Julian Strawther’s deep 3-pointer with six seconds left.
Bolton, a Petersburg native who attended Massanutten Military Academy in Woodstock, returns to Virginia after starting all 37 games as a senior with Gonzaga, averaging 10.1 points. He previously played at Penn State and Iowa State.
Campbell, a point guard from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, had 14 points and nine assists in the loss to Gonzaga and played four seasons for the Bruins. He tallied 1,487 career points and his 655 assists rank second all-time on UCLA’s career list behind Pooh Richardson. Campbell averaged 13.4 points, 2.6 rebounds and five assists per game in his final season.
UCLA’s David Singleton, who buried 42 3-pointers last season, also is slated to play in the PIT.
Who’s out?
The PIT announced last week that Detroit Mercy star Antoine Davis was coming to Portsmouth, but he is not listed on any of the eight rosters released by the tournament.
Davis finished his five-season college career with 3,664 points — three shy of tying LSU’s “Pistol” Pete Maravich for first on the NCAA’s all-time scoring list.
Remember her?
Norfolk Sports Club’s coaches includes Hamchetou Maiga-Ba, who was an All-American at Old Dominion before embarking on a WNBA career.
Maiga-Ba, a three-time all-conference pick who scored 1,483 career points at ODU, was the 10th overall pick in the 2002 WNBA Draft and played nine seasons with Sacramento, Houston and Minnesota. Maiga-Ba and another former ODU star, Ticha Penicheiro, helped Sacramento win a WNBA title in 2005.
More recently, she started the Hamchetou Maiga-Ba Foundation in her native Mali to provide education opportunities for boys and girls through basketball and their studies, according to the non-profit’s website.
Joe’s journey
Norfolk State’s Joe Bryant Jr. is on a whirlwind tour after exhausting his eligibility with the Spartans.
Bryant, who starred at Lake Taylor High in Norfolk, was named a most valuable player at the Reese’s College Basketball All-Star event and also played in the HBCU all-star game — both in Houston as part of the Final Four festivities. After a stop at the PIT, Bryant is slated to play in the Classic for Columbus Basketball All-Star game & Extravaganza on April 22 in Ohio.
Bryant was a two-time MEAC Player of the Year, led NSU to two MEAC Tournament titles and NCAA Tournament berths and in his final season averaged 17.8 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.1 assists. Bryant, the first NSU player in the PIT since Kyle O’Quinn in 2012, is on the Portsmouth Partnership team that opens the tournament at 9 p.m. today.
Tobacco Road flavor
Pete Nance gives the PIT a participant from an ACC blue blood. Nance averaged 10 points and six rebounds for a Tar Heels team last season that underachieved — starting the season ranked No. 1 nationally before falling out of contention in the ACC and missing the NCAA Tournament.
Among the other players from the ACC slated to participate: Virginia Tech’s Justyn Mutts, Clemson’s Hunter Tyson, Pittsburgh’s Jamarius Burton, Wake Forest’s Tyree Appleby, Notre Dame’s Dane Goodwin and N.C. State’s Jarkel Joiner.
Straight from the Final Four
San Diego State’s Nathan Mensah is the lone participant from the Final Four to join the Portsmouth party. Mensah helped the Aztecs reach their first national championship game, falling to UConn.
Mensah, a native of Ghana, was a two-time Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year.
Early schedule
At Churchland High School
Today’s games
Portsmouth Sports Club vs. Mike Duman Auto Sales, 7 p.m.
K&D Round’s Landscaping vs. Portsmouth Partnership, 9 p.m.
Thursday’s games
Wednesday’s losing teams, 3:15 p.m.
Roger Brown’s vs. Jani-King, 7 p.m.
Norfolk Sports Club vs. Sales Systems, Ltd., 9 p.m.
Tickets
All-tournament ticket: $35 at the Portsmouth Welcome Center, 206 High Street
Daily at the gate: (Cash only) $10 adults, $5 ages 18 and under
