Suggested Rosters for 2006 Portsmouth Invitational Tournament

The Portsmouth Invitational Tournament is one of only two official NBA pre-draft camps, traditionally held in the weekend following the NCAA final four in Portsmouth, Virginia. The organizers attempt to assemble the 64 best NCAA senior draft prospects in the country for an 8 team, 11 game tournament held over a four day period. The 54th edition of the tournament will be conducted this year from April 5th to April 8th.

According to the official website: “At first glance, the venerable Portsmouth Invitational Tournament is a showcase for senior college basketball players to display their talents and abilities before general managers and scouts from NBA teams… it is a priceless opportunity to impress not only the assembled basketball intelligentsia of the NBA with literally hundreds of years of expertise in assessing talent, but their counterparts who are trying to find players to populate the top leagues in Europe.”

Notes on the list:

-This is not the official list made by the committee, but rather our own personal suggestions and observations of who will or should be invited.

-The list was made in conjunction with a large number of people who will have a say one way or another in who gets invited and/or attends, including NBA General Managers, Assistant General Managers, Player personnel directors, Scouts, NCAA coaches, NCAA players, NBA agents who will likely be representing some of these players, as well as others. Our initial list was sent out over a week ago and we’ve since then received dozens of emails and phone calls from people in the group above suggesting who should be added or removed as well as confirmation on a number of players listed who have already received and/or accepted their invite.

• According to the official committee that puts together the real list, the official list will come out on March 31st, the Friday before the tournament kicks off.

• The team names listed are identical to the ones used at Portsmouth last year.

• The format of the list and teams are as follow:

I. 8 teams, consisting of 8 players each.

II. A pool of approximately the 100 best senior draft prospects (not best senior players) in America was created.

III. The top 20 seniors on our senior rankings were taken off immediately assuming that they will either not attend any of the two draft camps, or prefer to wait for the Orlando (formerly Chicago) pre-draft camp. History shows that in the case of Portsmouth, this is usually what happens. If you are wondering why players like JJ Redick, Dee Brown or James Augustine for example are not “invited”, that is your answer. We've actually heard that some of these "top 20" seniors have accepted their invites to Portsmouth, but for the sake of consistency, as well as to get all the smaller school players we wanted to get on the list, they've been left off. Players who know they are good enough to dominate at Portsmouth can certainly not hurt themselves by going to Portsmouth and playing well.

IV. Since we are ranking the best "senior draft prospects," and not necessarily the "best seniors," NBA upside is at a premium over great production at times. Ideally we like to see both, but a player who has good size and athleticism for his position, and shows at least some of the skills to play his NBA position that are at a premium, even inconsistently, will often garner an invite to see what they can do in a new setting against better competition.

• The pool of remaining players was distributed into 6 categories, and then split up evenly amongst the teams, in no particular order.

6 Categories

- Pure Swingmen:- Players who played either shooting guard or small forward in college and display most of the characteristics the NBA looks for in that position. (ex: Bobby Jones, Vincent Grier, Rashad Anderson. Total invited: 10)

- Combo Forwards:- Players who played power forward or center in college, but who likely need to move down a position or two and play at least some small forward to make it in the NBA. (ex: Vedran Vukusic, Eric Hicks, Brandon Bowman. Total invited: 18)

- Centers: - A rare commodity and the easiest position to get selected at, size, some athleticism and any resemblance of a back to the basket game garners an invite. (ex: Michael Southall, Torin Francis, Mohamed Kone. Total invited: 6)

- Combo Guards: - The toughest position to get invited from, these players are mostly college shooting guards who either did not play much point in their NCAA career, did not do a very good job convincing of their playmaking skills when they did, or show intriguing point guard skills to go along with shooting guard size. (ex: Taquan Dean, Justin Gray, Dwayne Mitchell. Total invited: 12)

- Pure Point Guards: - The committee’s favorite, these are the guys that make everyone around them better and help the scouts out in separating the cream from the crop. Would Jason Maxiell have went in the 1st round last year without Will Conroy on his team? It’s hard to say. (ex: Jeff Horner, Chris Quinn, C.J. Watson. Total invited: 8)

- Undersized Centers: - Mostly made up of back to the basket college centers who are undersized for the position and/or need to show some kind of potential/skills to play power forward, their natural position in the NBA because of their size. (ex: Marco Killingsworth, Eric Williams, J.P. Batista. Total Invited: 10)

• Some of the players on the list below might consider themselves “too good” for Portsmouth. While that might be true (and it also might not) depending on who you ask at this ridiculously early point in the year where draft predictions are about as accurate as trying to predict the weather on June 28th, keep in mind the type of tournament that Portsmouth is. It’s much easier to stand out at a tournament like Portsmouth compared with the official NBA pre-draft camp in Chicago/Orlando, because of the level of competition as well as the fact that it’s nowhere near as physically and mentally exhausting as Chicago. Chicago is an all-day affair of drills, tests and games, and the pressure of being constantly under the microscope for four grueling days often means that it’s nearly impossible to come out of the camp with a list of more than 5 players at most who actually played well and helped their stock.

• At Portsmouth on the other hand, there is only one game a day, which means less of a sense of urgency from the players that they must each score 30 points (even if it takes 30 shots) in order to up their stock, making certain games nearly unwatchable because of the lack of rhythm.

• Turning down Portsmouth could cost a player an invite to Chicago. There are many examples of that from last year and beyond where players who expected to garner an invite to Chicago turned down their Portsmouth invite, only to shut themselves out of Chicago eventually as well. If a player is not absolutely guaranteed to be invited to Chicago (and no one is, really, considering the bizarre selection process), a player could potentially set back his entire career by not allowing himself to be seen by NBA GM’s. A good showing in Portsmouth leads to good NBA workouts with the type of players you want to go up against, first round caliber prospects.

• 7 players from last year’s Portsmouth, widely considered the weakest field ever, landed on an NBA roster. 5 of them are still there. 1 of them, Jason Maxiell, landed himself a spot in the 1st round.

Suggested Rosters

HOLIDAY INN PORTSMOUTH

1. Torin Francis, PF/C, 6' 10"; Notre Dame
2. Keydren Clark, PG, 5' 10"; St. Peter's
3. Pops Mensah-Bonsu, PF, 6' 9"; Geo Washington
4. Chris Quinn, PG, 6' 2"; Notre Dame
5. Alan Daniels, SG, 6’6”; Lamar
6. Cedric Bozeman, SG/SF, 6’6”; UCLA
7. Vedran Vukusic, SF/PF, 6' 8"; Northwestern
8. Harding Nana, SF/PF, 6' 8"; Delaware

SALES SYSTEMS LTD

9. Kevin Steenberge, C, 6' 11"; Richmond
10. Jeff Horner, PG, 6' 3"; Iowa
11. Brad Buckman, PF, 6' 8"; Texas
12. Ricky Soliver, PG/SG, 6’3”; Iona
13. Je’Kel Foster, SG, 6’2”, Ohio State
14. Vincent Grier, SG/SF, 6' 5"; Minnesota
15. Jasper Johnson, PF, 6’8”, Delta State (Division 2)
16. Curtis Withers, SF/PF, 6' 8"; Charlotte

MD DESIGNS

17. Michael Southall, C, 6' 10"; La Lafayette
18. Gerry McNamara, PG, 6' 2"; Syracuse
19. Terence Dials, PF, 6' 9"; Ohio State
20. Chris Rodgers, PG/SG, 6' 4"; Arizona
21. Robert Hite, SG, 6’2”; Miami
22. Julian Sensley, SF/PF, 6' 9"; Hawaii
23. Mike Hall, SF, 6’8”; George Washington
24. Corey Belser, SG/SF, 6’6”, San Diego

NORFOLK SPORTS CLUB

25. Ryan Hollins, PF/C, 6' 11"; UCLA
26. Walker Russell, PG, 6’0”; Jacksonville St.
27. Louis Amundson, PF, 6' 9"; UNLV
28. Paul Miller, C, 6'10"; Wichita State
29. Sean Dockery, PG, 6' 2"; Duke
30. Rashad Anderson, SG, 6' 5"; Connecticut
31. Trent Strickland, SG/SF, 6' 5"; Wake Forest
32. Brandon Bowman, SF, 6' 8"; Georgetown

PORTSMOUTH SPORTS CLUB

33. Mohamed Kone, C, 6' 11"; Valparaiso
34. Jose Juan Barea, PG, 6' 0"; Northeastern
35. Marco Killingsworth, PF, 6' 8"; Indiana
36. Taquan Dean, PG/SG, 6' 3"; Louisville
37. Tarence Kinsey, SG, 6’6”, South Carolina
38. Jeremy Richardson, SG/SF, 6’6”; Delta State (Division 2)
39. Eric Hicks, SF/PF, 6' 6"; Cincinnati
40. Daniel Kickert, SF/PF, 6' 10"; St. Mary's (CA)

BEACH BARTON FORD

41. Kibwe Trim, C, 6’10”; Sacred Heart
42. Chris Hernandez, PG, 6' 2"; Stanford
43. Kevin Pittsnogle, PF/C, 6' 10"; West Virginia
44. Kenny Adeleke, PF/C, 6’8”; Hartford
45. David Moss, PG/SG, 6’5”; Indiana State
46. Chris McCray, SG/SF, 6’5”; Maryland
47. Carl Krauser, PG, 6' 1"; Pittsburgh
48. Wes Wilkinson, SF/PF, 6’9”; Nebraska

TIDEWATER SEALANTS

49. Solomon Jones, C, 6' 10"; South Florida
50. Daniel Horton, PG, 6' 3"; Michigan
51. Eric Williams, PF/C, 6' 9"; Wake Forest
52. Dwayne Mitchell, PG/SG, 6' 5"; La Lafayette
53. Andre Collins, PG, 5’11”; Loyola MD
54. Denham Brown, SG, 6' 5"; Connecticut
55. Bobby Jones, SG/SF, 6' 7"; Washington
56. Craig Smith, PF, 6' 7"; Boston College

NORFOLK NAVAL SHIPYARD

57. Alex Loughton, PF, 6’9”; Old Dominion
58. CJ Watson, PG, 6' 2"; Tennessee
59. J.P. Batista, PF, 6' 9"; Gonzaga
60. Justin Gray, PG, 6' 2"; Wake Forest
61. Nik Caner-Medley, SF, 6' 8"; Maryland
62. Darius Hargrove, SG, 6’4”; Virginia Union (Division 2)
63. David Noel, SF, 6' 6"; North Carolina
64. Christian Maraker, SF/PF; 6’10”; Pacific

Next 12 Considered:

1. Jason Fraser, C, 6’10”; Villanova
2. Kevin Bookout, C, 6’8”; Oklahoma
3. Erroll Knight, SF, 6’6”; Gonzaga
4. Chris Copeland, SF/PF, 6’8”; Colorado
5. Joah Tucker SF, 6' 5"; UW-Milwaukee
6. Marcellus Sommerville, SF; 6' 7"; Bradley
7. Brandon Cole, SG; 6’6”, IUPUI
8. Bobby Dixon, PG, 5’10”, Troy
9. Jeremy Kelly, PG/SG, 6’5”; Tenn. Martin
10. Steve Burtt, PG/SG, 6’1”; Iona
11. Jared Nuson, SG, 6’5”; Tenn Martin
12. Brandon Jennings, SF, 6’7”; Reinhardt College (NAIA)

Injured:

1. Brian Thornton, PF, 6' 8"; Xavier

2. Chuck Davis, SF, 6' 7"; Alabama

3. Armein Kirkland, SG/SF, 6' 8"; Cincinnati

4. Demario Eddins, SF, 6’7; UAB

5. Justin Williams, PF/C, 6’10”, Wyoming*

*Will likely sit out to fully heal ankle