THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 26, 1995 TAG: 9503240166
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 19 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BILL LEFFLER, CURRENTS SPORTS EDITOR
LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines
The 64-player field for the 43rd annual Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, scheduled for April 5-8 at the Churchland High School gym, is nearly two-thirds filled.
Forty players have accepted invitations to compete in the four-night tournament. The field will be completed Thursday when the squads will be announced and pairings drawn by the eight participating teams.
The newest additions are Alabama's Jason Caffey and Jamal Faulkner, Antoine Gillespie of the University of Texas-El Paso, Rick Brunson of Temple and Kenny Sykes of Grambling.
Earlier this week, four of the top players in the state confirmed they will play - Norfolk State's Corey Williams, Virginia's Junior Burrough and Jason Williford and James Madison's Louis Rose.
Old Dominion's Petey Sessoms and James Madison's Kent Culuko were among the early commitments, bringing to six the number of state college players in the field.
Here are the 40 players who have agreed to play:
Kareem Townes, LaSalle
Erwin Claggett, St. Louis
Theo Ratliff, Wyoming
Kent Culuko and Louis Rose, James Madison
Matthew Maloney, Pennsylvania
Corey Beck, Arkansas
Robert Feaster, Holy Cross
Dan Cross, Florida
Julius Michalik, Iowa State
Petey Sessoms, Old Dominion
Kevin Ollie and Donnie Marshal, Connecticut
Jim Potter, Idaho State
Erik Meek, Duke
Antoine Gillespie, Texas-El Paso
Scott Drapeau, New Hampshire
Glen Whisby, Southern Mississippi
Jimmy King and Ray Jackson, Michigan
Rick Brunson, Temple
Dwayne Whitfield, Jackson State
Mark Davis, Texas Tech
Ronnie McMahan, Vanderbilt
Corey Williams, Norfolk State
Jason Caffey and Jamal Faulkner, Alabama
Jason Williford and Junior Burrough, Virginia
John Amaechi, Penn State
Christian Ast, American
Cuonzo Martin, Purdue
Kenny Sykes, Grambling
Michael McDonald, New Orleans
Bryan Collins, Southwestern Louisiana
Jarvis Lang and Jermaine Parker, UNC-Charlotte
Troy Brown, Providence
John Ontjes, Oklahoma
Steve Hawkins, Xavier
Tournament director Rudolph Freeman said advance sales have been very good and officials are hoping to sell out the Churchland gym all four nights. Tickets are $6.25 each night.
``But we have reduced prices for large groups, and we are hoping businesses and other organizations will take advantage of that,'' said Freeman. Ten reserved tickets in the mezzanine section can be purchased for $52.50 or 20 for $95.
``A 25-seat block can be purchased at either end of the court for $100, 50 seats for $175 and 100 for $300.
Freeman can be contacted at the Portsmouth Parks and Recreation Department at 393-8481. Ticket chairman John Spence can be reached at 393-2559.
Games will be at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. in the first two rounds and the semifinals. The consolation championship on Saturday will be at 1:30 p.m., the third-place game at 5:30 p.m. and the title game at 7:30 p.m.
Afternoon consolation bracket games on Thursday and Friday will be at 3:15 p.m. and admission will be by donation. ILLUSTRATION: Antoine Gillespie of the University of Texas-El Paso will play
in the Portsmouth Invitational tourney.
by CNB