Kentucky’s Willis to team with Louisville’s Mathiang, UCLA’s Alford in Portsmouth event

Kentucky’s Derek Willis is among the 64 college basketball seniors playing in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament this week.

The four-day, 12-game tournament begins Wednesday in Portsmouth, Va., and showcases select seniors for NBA and international scouts and has included such eventual NBA stars as John Stockton and Scottie Pippen. 2015 NBA All-Star Jimmy Butler played in the P.I.T.

The 64 players are divided into eight teams. Willis has been placed on the Sales Systems Ltd. team with some familiar faces, including Louisville center Mangok Mathiang, UCLA guard Bryce Alford and Duke guard Matt Jones. Their first game is Thursday at 9 p.m. Willis’ team also includes forwards Steve Taylor Jr. of Toledo and Erik McCree of Louisiana Tech and guards Jabari Bird of California and DeWayne Russell of Grand Canyon.

Other Southeastern Conference players at the event include Florida’s Canyon Barry, whose father, NBA great Rick Barry, is among the invitational’s alumni. Mississippi’s Sabastian Saiz and Georgia’s J.J. Frazier will also compete.

Former Kentucky player Keith Bogans will serve as an assistant coach for the K&D Rounds team, which includes Villanova’s Kris Jenkins and Wisconsin’s Bronson Koenig. Bogans’ squad is the first opponent for Willis’ team.

Willis, a 6-foot-9 forward from Mount Washington, averaged 7.0 points and 5.4 rebounds and started 15 games for the Cats this season.

No live streaming of the tournament has been announced. For box scores and more information, go to Portsmouthinvitational.com/.

This story was originally published April 11, 2017 at 1:06 PM with the headline "Kentucky’s Willis to team with Louisville’s Mathiang, UCLA’s Alford in Portsmouth event."