PORTSMOUTH, VA (WTKR)- It's grown into one of the top evaluation opportunities for professional scouts when it comes to college talent.
The 69th Annual Portsmouth Invitational Tournament tips off at Churchland High School on Wednesday. Tuesday saw the event's organizers and coaches meet for final preparations as the four day basketball showcase gets set to begin. 64 of the top college seniors in the country will convene on the city in hopes of making an impression.
"When we get to the point where the tournament's about to start, it is the excitement of like opening the presents on Christmas for us," said NBA consultant Chris Ekstrand. "We have a lot of players who are going to play in the NBA here. Some will just get a cup of coffee in the NBA, some of them will play a long time, but everybody who plays in this tournament, who gets to this level, plays a professional career."
The 30-year NBA employee notes that many of the players we will see this week are unheralded. Underclassman seem to dominate the early stages of the NBA Draft, but these standouts boast professional-worthy talent as well. Even if the NBA does not come calling immediately, professional teams in Europe and the G-League are also possible destinations for those taking part in the tournament. Eight local coaches will lead the eight PIT teams, many of whom coach at the high school level.
"They bring their exceptional knowledge of the game to these players," Ekstrand noted. "I think the players sometimes are surprised by how much these guys know about basketball."
Ekstrand also gives a hat-tip to the volunteers and people of Portsmouth who chip in to help make the event a successful one. Local volunteers pick up the players at the airport, make sure lodging is all set up, transport participants to practice and games and make sure medical testing is completed. Some of them work up to 16 hour days to help make the overall operation run smoothly.
"We have so many hands to help us with this," he pointed out. "It's the passion of the people of the Portsmouth area that make this event come alive and without them, the tournament wouldn't work."
Scouts from all 30 NBA teams will be in attendance to take in the tournament, along with representatives from several overseas organizations. The Player Selection Committee, of which Ekstrand is a part, puts players through a rigorous evaluation process when it comes to picking which 64 players from across the country will be chosen.
"We watch hundreds and hundreds of hours of basketball to get to the 64 players that we invite here," he said. "It's a national tournament. We get the very best players we can get. We don't care where they played, we try to get them in here and after that they do the rest."
The Portsmouth Invitational Tournament will get underway on Wednesday at 7:00 PM and run through Saturday. For more information, including full schedules, rosters and ticket information, click here.
