Pair of hoop Hogs picked to play in Portsmouth Invitational
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Arkansas seniors Jaylen Barford and Daryl Macon have been selected to take part in the annual Portsmouth Invitational Tournament in Viriginia starting Wednesday night.
The P.I.T. invites 64 of the best seniors in the country, divided into eight teams, “to participate in a four-day, 12-game tournament in front of representatives from every NBA team,” according to its website. Famous tournament alums include Rick Barry, Earl “The Pearl” Monroe, John Stockton, Scottie Pippen and Jimmy Butler in 2015. Last year, six players from the Portsmouth Invitational were selected in the 2017 NBA draft, including the Spurs’ first-round pick, Derrick White from Colorado.
Barford finished this season averaging 17.9 points (third in the SEC) and 3.9 rebounds while shooting 46.7 percent from the field (sixth in the SEC) and a career-high 43.4 percent from three (second in the SEC). He became the seventh player in Arkansas history to reach 1,000 career points in two years on Senior Night against Auburn. The 6’3 guard will be a member of the Sales Systems, Ltd. squad alongside Kelan Martin from Butler and Jeffrey Carroll from Oklahoma State, among others.
Macon earned SEC Player of the Week honors three times this season, averaging 17.1 points and 4.0 assists on 46.3 percent shooting from the field and 43.8 percent from deep (first in the SEC). He joined Barford in the 1,000 point club on Senior Night, becoming the sixth player in Arkansas history to accomplish that feat in two seasons. The Little Rock (Ark.) native will play on the Portsmouth Partnership team with Chris Chiozza from Florida and Zach Smith from Texas Tech.
On Wednesday night, Barford’s Sales Systems, Ltd. is scheduled to play at 7:00 pm (ET) and Macon’s Portsmouth Partners will hit the floor around 9:00 pm (ET). The tournament continues through Saturday night’s championship game.
All games are played at Churchland High School Sports complex in Portsmouth (Virg.). Netcast Sports will stream the event. For more information on the entire tournament, visit www.portsmouthinvitational.com.