GEORGE TO PLAY IN PORTSMOUTH INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT
3-20-06

RICHMOND, Va. – Virginia Commonwealth University senior forward Nick George (Manchester, England/Montrose Christian) has been invited and has accepted a bid to play in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament.

The PIT will be held April 5-8 at Churchland High School. The tournament is a chance for 64 seniors to be evaluated by NBA and professional scouts. It is the only event prior to the Chicago Draft Camp.

George was the only Ram to start all 29 games this past season. He led the Rams and was fifth in the Colonial Athletic Association in scoring with 16.9 points per game. George scored in double figures 24 times this season, including 21 of the final 24 contests. George was the top three-point shooter in the conference, hitting 47% of his attempts from beyond the arc. He is the only player in the CAA to be ranked among the league leaders in scoring (16.9 ppg), rebounding (5.1 rpg), field goal percentage (.468), three-point percentage (.468) and made three-pointers (1.79 per game).

George was named First Team All-CAA for the second consecutive year. He named Second Team All-District earlier this season after being First Team All-District a year ago.

A four-year starter for the Rams, George scored 1,546 career points, placing him eighth on VCU’s career scoring list. On other VCU career lists, he is seventh in rebounds with 688, fourth in three-point percentage at.416, tenth in three-point field goals with 116, third in free throws with 339, eighth in steals with 114, eighth in double-doubles with 14 and seventh in minutes played with 3,504. George is the only player in VCU history to be in the Top Ten in all those categories.

Under fourth-year head coach Jeff Capel, VCU was 19-10 overall and 11-7 in the CAA. The Rams had the highest RPI of any team not participating in post-season play.

Other seniors who have accepted bids to the PIT include Jose Juan Barea of Northeastern, Cameron Bennerman of NC State, Brandon Bowman of Georgetown, Brad Buckman of Texas, Torin Francis of Notre Dame, Alex Loughton of Old Dominion and David Noel of North Carolina.