Wilkinson invited to post-season tourney
Utah State’s Gary Wilkinson has been invited to participate in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament in Portsmouth, Va., from April 8-11.
The P.I.T. is the nation’s oldest amateur basketball tournament and the only postseason camp for college seniors prior to the NBA Pre-Draft Camp.
This marks the 57th year the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament has invited
64 of the best college basketball seniors to participate in a four-day, 12 game tournament in front of representatives from every NBA team and numerous foreign franchises.
“This is a great opportunity for me to play with some of the best basketball players in the nation,” Wilkinson said. “I am very excited to showcase my abilities and represent Utah State University at the same time.”
Wilkinson, a 6-9 senior forward from South Jordan, Utah (Salt Lake CC), was named an honorable mention All-American by the Associated Press and the
Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year this past season as he led Utah State to a school record 30 wins (30-5), its second-straight regular season WAC title, its first WAC Tournament Championships, and the school’s 18th appearance in the NCAA Tournament all-time, including its sixth in the last 10 seasons.
As a senior, Wilkinson led Utah State in scoring and rebounding with 17.1 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. He finished the year ranking second in the WAC in scoring and free throw shooting (.826), was fourth in field goal shooting (.580), and sixth in rebounding.
For his career, Wilkinson ranks 28th all-time at Utah State with 1,065 points and became the 33rd player in school history to score 1,000 career points. He also ranks fifth all-time in school history in field goal percentage (.582) and eighth all-time in free throw shooting (.821). As a senior, Wilkinson scored 598 points which ranks 15th all-time in school history for a single-season.
Wilkinson’s other honors this year include being named the Most Valuable Player of the 2009 WAC Tournament along with receiving first-team all-district honors from both the National Association of Basketball Coaches
(NABC) and the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA). Wilkinson was also named a finalist for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award and earned WAC Player of the Week honors three times during the season.