TOLEDO, OH - Senior center Nathan Boothe will be one of 64 college basketball seniors competing in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament to be held April 13-16 in Portsmouth, VA. Boothe's selection marks the third-straight year that a Rocket is participating in the event. Rian Pearson and Julius Brown received invitations following the 2013-14 and 2014-15 campaigns, respectively.
 
     The Portsmouth Invitational, which is the second post-season event that Boothe will compete in, has been held since 1953. The PIT invites top college basketball seniors from across the country each year to participate in the four-day, 12-game tournament, in front of representatives from every NBA organization.
 
     "It's an honor for our program to have Nathan chosen to participate in this year's Portsmouth Invitational," Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk said. "Nathan has worked extremely hard for this opportunity and is very deserving of it. He possesses a lot of the tools necessary to play at the next level, and I'm looking forward to seeing Nathan take this step in his basketball career."
 
     The Gurnee, IL native helped the Rockets to an 79-48 (.622) mark during the past four years and received first-team All-MAC First Team accolades this past season. He led the Mid-American Conference in scoring with 19.3 ppg and ranked third with 9.0 rpg and an 82.4 FT%. He also was fourth in double-doubles (14) and 11th with 3.4 apg. Boothe's 618 points this season ranked third in school history and his 152 rejections are the most in Rocket annals. He led or shared the team lead in scoring on a team-high 19 occasions, rebounding a team-best 25 times, and assists on 11 occasions.
 
     Boothe concluded his career tied for 10th place on UT's scoring list with 1,494 points and tied for 10th place on UT's all-time rebounding list with 777 boards. Earlier this season, Boothe was one of 13 individuals named to CollegeInsiders.com's mid-season Mid-Major All-America team. He also received the MAC's West Division Player of the Week honors on seven occasions.
 
     For more information regarding the event, fans can visit www.portsmouthinvitational.com. The website contains player information, hotel information, previous records/players and more information about the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament.
 
Mission of the P.I.T.
The P.I.T. has always claimed to be "more than a basketball tournament".  Each year the P.I.T. contributes back to the community by awarding five $4,000 scholarships to student athletes from Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk and Virginia Beach.  In addition to the scholarships, approximately $11,500 from the tournament proceeds is presented to local non-profit organizations and charities to help them make a difference in the local community, creating a grand total of over $31,500 given back the community each year.  The contributions and scholarships have risen significantly over the years thanks to the support of local sponsors, advertisers, ticket sales, the City of Portsmouth and the NBA.  Of course, the more than 100 volunteers involved in producing the tournament have a special place in the success of this wonderful event each year.  Together they all make this "more than a basketball tournament".