PORTSMOUTH, VA – Senior Jordan Washington will become the sixth straight Iona College men’s basketball player to represent the program at the 65th annual Portsmouth Invitational Tournament this week from April 12-15 at the Churchland High School Sports Complex.
With Washington’s invitation, the Gaels become the only Division I program thus far to have six straight representatives at the event as the Queens native joins former teammate A.J. English (2016), last year’s event MVP, as well as former Gaels David Laury (2015), Sean Armand (2014), Lamont Jones (2013) and Mike Glover (2012) as participants.
Washington has been selected to the Cherry Bekaert team, led by coaches Ben Moore and Dennis Koutoufas as well as NBA assistant coach Trisha Stafford-Odom. Washington's teammates include Marc Loving of Ohio State, Steve Vasturia of Notre Dame and an opponent from the 2016-17 Iona schedule, Nevada's Marcus Marshall.
Cherry Bekaert are scheduled to open the tournament schedule this evening with a 9:00 pm game against Portsmouth Partnership, featuring Deonte Burton of Iowa State - Iona's 2016 NCAA Tournament opponent. The winner moves on to Friday's 7:00 pm game while the loser will play at 3:15 pm on Thursday.
Each year for past 64 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 1970’s when players like Rick Barry, Earl “The Pearl” Monroe, Dave Cowens, John Lucas 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 including 2015 NBA All-Star Jimmy Butler.
Other invitees for this year’s event include MAAC Player of the Year Justin Robinson.
According to NCAA.com, Washington finished this season ranked within the top-50 among Division I statistics in four categories that included 236 free throw attempts to rank 15th in the nation. In just two seasons with the Maroon & Gold, the forward compiled 1,070 points by averaging 16.2 points per-game in 66 contests. The point total places him 33rd all-time in program history.