UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA'S LAWRENCE WESTBROOK TO PLAY AT PORTSMOUNTH TOURNAMENT

Minnesota senior guard Lawrence Westbrook was recently chosen to play in the 58th Annual Portsmouth Invitational Tournament April 7-10 at Churchland High School gymnasium in Portsmouth, Virginia. Westbrook is one of eight players on the Portsmouth Partnership roster and one of only three Big Ten players to be selected to play in the tournament (Michigan's DeShawn Sims & Trevon Hughes from Wisconsin).

Westbrook finished his career at the University of Minnesota with 1,199 career points, tying him with Archie Clark for 20th all-time. He is one of only seven Gopher players to score 1,000 points and hit 100 three-pointers in a career.

Westbrook, whose 121 career games played is tied for ninth all-time, will go down as one of the best shooters to wear the Maroon & Gold. He leaves the "U" with 140 career three-pointers, which is sixth all-time, and a career three-point percentage of .379 (140-369), good for 10th all-time. He also holds a career free-throw percentage of .807, the third best in history, as well as the program's eighth and ninth best single-season free-throw percentages of .837 (2009-10) and .833 (2008-09), respectively.

Each year for 57 years the P.I.T has invited 64 of the best college basketball players (seniors) from across the nation to participate in a four-day, twelve game tournament in front of representatives from every NBA team. Today scouts from the NBA and numerous international leagues have joined in on the annual April pilgrimage to Portsmouth. Over the years the P.I.T. has been a showcase for five of the 50 greatest players in NBA History (Rick Barry, Earl "The Pearl" Monroe, Dave Cowens, John Stockton, Scottie Pippen) and for many others who have gone on to NBA stardom.

The Gophers wrapped up the 2009-10 with a loss to Xavier on Mar. 19 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. This was the second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance for the Gophers and the 16th overall appearance for a Tubby Smith-led team.

The Gophers finished 21-14 on the season, the 17th-straight season a Tubby Smith-led team reached the 20-win plateau. It is the longest active streak in the nation and the third-longest streak in NCAA history. Minnesota reached 20 total wins for just the 10th time in school history.