The P.I.T Diaries: Day One Recap
Stephen recaps Day One of the 2025 Portsmouth Invitational Tournament.
I came into this day super excited, as it was my first time experiencing this tournament in person. Everything I have ever heard about P.I.T has been true so far. It’s literally held in a high school gym—though it’s not as small as I expected. The phone signal is not very good, which forces you to pay attention to the games. It’s a place for hoopers. Everyone there was all about the games, and was willing to chop it up with anyone else that has a love for the game. I was able to meet some of the staff, and they were just the nicest people you could meet.
I also ran into some fun media folks. Some were local to the area. In fact, I was asked to conduct a brief interview by someone who was there on assignment, but didn’t have a lot of scouting/evaluation background. I never would have guessed that would have happened, but it was cool. I also ran into some very cool people from “Draft Twitter/X” out there. It was awesome to share takes, notes, and reactions to what we were seeing.
Oh, and the basketball was fun, too. A lot has been made of the quality of players that elected to participate this year, and the players have absolutely lived up to the hype. Now, this tournament can be similar to other exhibitions where talent is aggregated from all over the place. Guards have a lot of influence on the game since the chemistry is makeshift, and the plays are fairly simple actions. Coaches have to find lineups that make sense with an eight-man rotation consisting of sometimes vastly different skill sets. However, that’s what makes the viewing/scouting experience fun in my opinion. How can these players adapt to being outside of their comfort zone? Some shined, while others struggled.
With that said, here is what I took away from how certain players performed on the first day of games.
Most Impressive Players
Sean Pedulla | Mississippi | Guard | 6’1” | 195
16 PTS, 6 REBS, 3 ASTS, 2 STLS, 4/6 FG, 3/4 3P, 5/6 FT
As stated earlier, guards can have a tremendous influence in games like these. Pedulla was definitely game-planned to be the field general on both ends. Sean’s coach continuously communicated to Sean any time there were adjustments to be made or actions that should be run. The majority of his shots came from deep, but he also made his way to the paint to collapse the defense. Once the defense converged on him, Pedulla was quick to kick the ball out to the perimeter. His quickness came in handy on defense, where he was able to slip around screens and shoot through passing lanes for deflections or steals. His poise and effort proved to be of special importance, which helped his team edge out a win.