PISCATAWAY, N.J. (February 2, 2010) – Rutgers senior center Hamady Ndiaye (Dakar, Senegal) has received an invitation to compete at the 58th annual Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, to be held April 7-10, 2010, in Portsmouth, Va. The “P.I.T” invites 64 of the best college basketball seniors from across the nation to participate in a four-day, twelve-game tournament in front of representatives from every NBA team.
Ndiaye presently leads the BIG EAST and ranks third nationally in blocks with an average of 4.71 rejections-per-contest. The team co-captain, who is second among NCAA players in career blocks, also ranks sixth in the Conference in field goal percentage (.573). In 113 career games in Scarlet, Ndiaye has accumulated 312 blocks, second most in school history behind only former NBA veteran Roy Hinson (355).
Ndiaye is one of 30 men’s candidates for the 2009-10 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence – classroom, character, community and competition. The Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
Ndiaye enters Tuesday evening’s contest versus St. John’s averaging 9.1 points and 6.4 rebounds-per-game. He was twice named to the BIG EAST Honor Roll this season.
Six players that participated in last season’s “P.I.T.” were selected in the 2009 NBA Draft and 57 alums are presently on NBA rosters. Among the many NBA veterans to participate in the Invitational are former Rutgers All-American and current 76ers head coach Eddie Jordan.
