Four MAAC Players Invited to Portsmouth National Invitational
MAAC Sports
Edison, N.J. - Four MAAC men's basketball players have been named to the 64-player roster of the Portsmouth National Invitational.
Siena College's Alex Franklin, the 2010 Pepsi Max MAAC Player of the Year, will play for Portsmouth Sports Club. Franklin (16.1 ppg, 8.1 rpg) joins Kansas State's Denis Clemente and Notre Dame's Tory Jackson on the team.
Fellow Saint Edwin Ubiles, a member of the 2010 Citizens Bank MAAC Basketball Championship All-Tournament Team, was named to the Cherry, Bekaert & Holland roster. Ubiles (15.3 ppg, 3.7 rpg) will play alongside Jordan Eglseder of Northern Iowa and Theo Robertson of California.
Rider University's Ryan Thompson, a two-time All MAAC First Team selection, earned a spot on the Norfolk Sports Club. Joining Thompson (17.2 ppg, 5.0 rpg) on the squad are Tweety Carter from Baylor and Tony Crocker from Oklahoma.
Anthony Johnson from Fairfield University will play for the Portsmouth Partnership. Johnson (16.1 ppg, 9.8 rpg), the 2010 MAAC Defensive Player of the Year, will pair up with Jeff Foote from Cornell and Lawrence Westbrook from Minnesota.
The 58th annual P.I.T. will take place April 7-10, 2010.
Each year for 57 years the P.I.T. has invited 64 of the best college basketball players (seniors) from across the nation to participate in a four-day, twelve game tournament in front of representatives from every NBA team. The tournament drew the attention of NBA Scouts and General Managers in the mid-70's when players like Dave Cowens, John Lucas, Walt Szczerbiak and Bobby Cremins came to Portsmouth to play. Soon the word spread and approximately 200 Scouts, General Managers and Representatives of all 30 NBA teams began to come to see players like John Stockton, Dennis Rodman, Tim Hardaway, Scottie Pippen and others. Today scouts from numerous international leagues have joined in on the annual April pilgrimage to Portsmouth. Over the years the P.I.T. has been a showcase for five of the 50 greatest players in NBA History (Rick Barry, Earl "The Pearl" Monroe, Dave Cowens, John Stockton, Scottie Pippen) and for many others who have gone on to NBA stardom.