THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, April 12, 1996 TAG: 9604100123
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BILL LEFFLER, CURRENTS SPORTS EDITOR
LENGTH: Long : 121 lines
PORTSMOUTH INVITATIONAL Tournament officials have a major ally when they contend the 44-year-old event is better than ever - National Basketball Association director of scouting Marty Blake.
The four-night competition, concluding Saturday when Beach/Barton Ford posted an 82-75 victory over Sales Systems Ltd. in the championship game at Churchland High School, had a down year in attendance.
When third-team All-America Jason Sasser of Texas Tech and Georgetown's Jerome Williams canceled scheduled appearances and injuries prevented Duke's Chris Collins and Drexel's Malik Rose from playing, the marquee names suddenly diminished.
One pre-tournament story pointed out the PIT did not seem to be getting the caliber of players now as in earlier years, indicating the last six most valuable players in the PIT did not even make it into the NBA.
``That story had a little fact but a lot of fiction,'' said Blake. ``Quite the contrary, the overall field in the PIT is much superior than ever before.
``That story said the tournament no longer gets a player such as Dan Majerle. Well, not many people even knew who Dan Majerle was before he came in and was the most valuable player in the 1988 PIT.
``Give some of these players a little time. We definitely will see future NBA stars here, maybe some from this very tournament.''
Booty Baker, co-chairman of the PIT player-selection committee, also took exception to the story. ``I think it hurt our attendance,'' he said. ``I read it over several times and I can agree that agents convince some of the blue-chip players not to participate in any post-season tournaments. And the top underclassmen who come out early are not eligible for our tournament.
``But I have been associated with the PIT since it started and I can tell you that down-the-line there is no comparison with tournaments now and those in the past. The present tournament has much more talent.
``St. Joseph's Reggie Townsend wasn't among the 64 we invited and he came in when Rose was injured and couldn't play. And, look, Townsend was one of the players selected on the all-tournament team.''
Other NBA scouts agreed with Blake and Baker.
``This tournament is where you can find out who can play in the NBA. That's what it is all about,'' said Gary Fitzsimmons of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
``Frankly I think the PIT just gets better and better,'' said Wil Robinson of the Detroit Pistons.
``I think some players get poor advice when they don't come to the PIT,'' said Jerry Reynolds of the Sacramento Kings. ``There will be a dozen or more players drafted by the NBA for special talents they show here.''
One quite likely will be 1996 MVP Bernard Hopkins of Virginia Commonwealth.
Hopkins scored 57 points and hauled in 29 rebounds in leading Beach/Barton to three tournament victories. He probably earned himself an invitation to the next post-season tournament in Phoenix.
Six or eight PIT players were expected to receive invitations this week.
``I hope I am one,'' said Hopkins. ``No agent was going to talk me out of playing in Portsmouth. I don't even have one yet. Some time soon I will sit down with my family and coach (VCU's Sonny) Smith and then I will settle on an agent.''
Pro scouts also had some questions answered about other players in the PIT.
Marcus Mann of Mississippi Valley State led the nation in rebounding. But how would the 6-8 Southwestern Athletic Conference player of the year fare against 7-footers and other Division I big trees?
Mann responded by pulling down 49 rebounds, the third highest in tournament history. He made the All-PIT team.
Kevin Granger of Texas Southern came in as the nation's leading Division I scorer. How would he match up with players from major universities?
Granger shot sparingly and still registered 43 points. He had five assists in the championship game for the winning team, 11 in the tournament.
What about Shawn Harvey? Could the NAIA All-American from West Virginia State keep up with the large school stars?
Harvey was the PIT's leading scorer with 65 points for the third-place K-Plus team and gained a berth on the all-tournament team.
The scouts also were looking for shot blockers. Who were the eye catchers in that category?
Kentucky's Mark Pope, on the runner-up team, had 11 blocked shots. Art Long of Cincinnati, also playing for Sales Systems, blocked nine, five in the championship game. Both were all-tournament selections.
The other all-tourney picks were Beach/Barton/s Jeff Nordgaard of Wisconsin Green Bay, K-Plus's Adrian Griffin of Seton Hall and Moochie Norris of West Florida and Dolsey's Quinn Harwood of Davidson and Townsend.
TOURNAMENT NOTES - Norfolk State's Derrick Bryant, who played on the championship team, was selected by fans as the tournament's outstanding sportsman. He received the H. Thomas Fennell Memorial Award. Fennell was a member of the original PIT committee. It was the second year in a row an area player was picked. Old Dominion's Petey Sessoms won a year ago. . . . Hopkins elected to play in the championship game after learning earlier in the day that his father had died after a long battle with cancer. ``It hurt me when I heard about it,'' he said. ``But I decided I would focus on this game for two hours and put everything else aside. I know he would have wanted me to go out and play. His death is a pain I will have to live with forever.'' . . . It was a tournament to forget for Rutgers' Damion Santiago, an All-Big East guard who averaged 16 points for the season. In three games with Bill Lewis Chevrolet he was 2 of 19 from the field and had nine turnovers. . . . There were several injuries in this year's tournament. Arizona State's Ron Riley suffered a broken ankle. Penn State's Matt Gaudio injured a knee tendon. George Washington's Kwame Evans sprained a finger. . . . To the fans who were wondering if Moochie is the real first name of West Florida's Norris: nope! ``It's Marvin,'' he said, with a finger across his lips. . . . When a report came out that Georgetown's Allen Iverson might be coming out of college two years early to join the pros, Blake offered this observation: ``I said last year Iverson wasn't ready and he still isn't ready. I don't even bother to look at guys like Iverson. His deliverability was better this year than a year ago but he would be making a terrible mistake in coming out.'' . . . With the withdrawal of Sasser, it might be difficult for Texas Tech to have future players invited to the PIT. Tournament officials buy cheaper non-refundable plane tickets when players accept bids. They had to eat a $600 ticket sent to Sasser. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MOTOYA NAKAMURA
Darryl Wilson of Mississippi State, playing for Sales Systems Ltd.,
moves the ball past Beach/Barton Ford in the PIT final Saturday.
Staff photo by MOTOYA NAKAMURA
Mark Pope of Kentucky shoots high for Sales Systems Ltd., but his
team lost to Beach/Barton Ford.
by CNB