For the second straight year, former Marymount University men’s basketball coach Webb Hatch was involved with coaching one of the men’s eight hoops teams in the renowned Portsmouth Invitational Tournament (PIT).
This year, Hatch was a coach for the Portsmouth Sports Club team that finished with a 2-1 record. He coached the Marymount squad for 10 seasons, beginning in 1987-88.
There were a dozen games played in during PIT competition spread over four days at Churchland High School in Portsmouth.
“It’s an event that is very big and popular in this area, and just fun to be a part of,” Hatch said. “This year’s team was a good group of men. We as coaches did not have to do much. They played hard, unselfishly, rebounded, defended, an except for the first quarter of game one, shot it pretty well.”
What started in 1953 as a city basketball league, the PIT has become an annual national tournament. Every year, 64 of some of the country’s top college seniors are invited to Portsmouth to compete in front of professional scouts, agents and eager fans during the event.
Sponsored by the NBA with the goal of bringing this unique talent pool to one location, the 69th annual PIT kicks off the NBA Draft process as pro teams look for the next under-the-radar superstar. Current and former NBA players who are PIT alumni include Jeremy Lin, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, John Stockton, Tim Hardaway and Dan Majerle.
The tournament Website is: PortsmouthInvitational.com.
A native of the Tidewater area and still a resident there, Hatch got involved with coaching in the PIT event after he retired from coaching college basketball following the 2017-18 season.
