MSU's Timmy Bowers To Compete In Portsmouth Invitational Tournament
The nation's oldest amateur basketball tournament, the 52nd Annual Portsmouth Invitational Tournament is recognized by NBA and European scouts as the premier showcase for future professional players. This year's event begins Wednesday and runs through this Saturday at the Churchland High School gymnasium in Portsmouth. Set to be a member of the Tidewater Sealants squad, where he is slated to team with William Carey's Jaeson Maravich, Bowers' first competition will come Wednesday in Game 2 of the PIT against the Holiday Inn-Portsmouth club featuring Xavier's Anthony Myles and Brandon Mouton of Texas.
Noted as the only tournament for college seniors to participate in and be evaluated by the National Basketball Association prior to the league's pre-draft camp in Chicago this June, this year's PIT is scheduled to also feature fellow SEC standouts Rashad Wright of Georgia, Mississippi's Justin Reed, as well as the Kentucky trio of Erik Daniels, Gerald Fitch and Cliff Hawkins. A total of 64 players have accepted invitations to compete in the four-day event, which will consist of 11 games beginning with Wednesday's opening-round games and concluding with the consolation championship, third-place championship and overall championship contests on Saturday.
Ranking as the all-time winningest basketball player in school history with 92 career victories, Bowers also rates as the only basketball player in school history to have participated in four postseason tournaments, including three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. This past season in being named All-SEC First Team by The Associated Press as well as by a collective vote of the league's head coaches, MSU's two-time team co-captain ranked 13th in the SEC in scoring (15.0 ppg), third in assists (4.8 apg), sixth in steals (1.9 spg) and fifth in made 3-pointers per game (2.4 treys/gm) to help lead coach Rick Stansbury's eighth-ranked and 26-4 Bulldogs to an outright SEC regular-season championship and second straight SEC Western Division crown with a school-best 14-2 league record as a senior.
A national finalist for this year's inaugural Bob Cousy Collegiate Point Guard of the Year Award, Bowers completed his four-year collegiate career ranked 12th on Mississippi State's all-time list with 1,300 career points, along with standing second with 197 career made 3-pointers behind former State sharpshooter Darryl Wilson, fourth with 161 career steals and 10th with 301 career assists. The Gulfport native and former Mississippi prep player of the year at Harrison Central High School also collected all-America honors and was tabbed the SEC's MVP this past season by the CollegeInsider.com website. A national nominee for both the Senior CLASS Award and Collegiate Basketball Award of Excellence this past year, Bowers remains on target to earn his bachelor's degree in fitness management this spring.
The money raised annually by the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament is funneled to local non-profit organizations and scholarships to deserving high school student-athletes. The PIT has raised more than $450,000 in contributions to these causes over the years, and a total of 100 PIT scholarships have been awarded to deserving high school athletes. Additional information on the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament can be found at www.portsmouthinvitational.com.