April 3, 2007
NORFOLK, VA-- Monarch seniors Valdas Vasyliusand Drew Williamson have been selected to playin the 55th annual Portsmouth Invitational Tournament at Churchland High School. The event begins Wednesday and concludes Saturday and features 64 of the nations top seniors who are divided into eight, eight-man squads.
Vasylius will play for Holiday Inn Portsmouth. His teammates are JamesHughes of North Illinois, Anthony Tolliver of Creighton, Quinton Hosley ofFresno State, De'Angelo Alexander of Charlotte, Russell Carter of NotreDame, Dion Harris of Michigan and Englin Atsur of N.C. State. They playWednesday night at 7 p.m.
Drew Williamson will be playing for Sales Systems LTD. His teammatesare Darryl Watkins of Syracuse, Brandon Wallace of South Carolina, Stephane Lasme of UMASS, David Teague of Purdue, Trey Johnson ofJackson State and Nate Funk of Creighton. The team will be coached byODU Hall of Famer Leo Anthony (ODU'61). They will play Thursday at 7 p.m.
Drew Williamson finished with 215 career steals and 555 career assists. Heis ODU's second all-time leader in steals and tenth all time in the CAA.He also ranks seventh at ODU in all-time assists and sixth in theCAA. Williams joins Frank Smith (ODU'88) as the only Monarchs tohave over 200 career steals and 500 career assists. Drew also owns thenew ODU school record for 130 career games played. The second team All-CAA guard averaged 11.0 points 4.3 assists and 2.3 steals per game.
Vasylius finished his career with 1,345 career points for 23rd all-timeat ODU. He also finished with 129 career games played. The first teamAll-CAA and second team NABC District IV selection led ODU with 15.6points and 6.1 rebounds per game. He shot .486 from the floor and .758from the line.
The duo helped lead the Monarchs to a 24-9 record and the school's firstNCAA atlarge selection since 1986. The seniors won 93 games in four years.
Tickets for all 12 games are $25. Individual evening sessions are $8;consolation games Thursday and Friday afternoon are free. Tickets are available at the Willet Hall box office and throught all ticketmasteroutlets. For more information: 393-5460.