PORTSMOUTH, Va. — Former Virginia Tech teammates Justin Robinson and Ahmed Hill are on opposing sides with the same mission. Impress NBA scouts and land in the league. The same could be said for Old Dominion's, B.J. Stith or Iowa State's, Marial Shayok, who transfer from the University Of Virginia, to get this very opportunity.
Results have been mixed. Stith has struggled scoring just 4 points over his two games. Robinson has been stat stuffing. He had 10 assist in his first game, and hit the game winning shot. Friday night, he chipped in 9 points for Sales Systems LTD as they won in overtime for a second night in a row. Robinson will be in Saturday night's final from Churchland High School. "There's a lot more space in this game than there was in college", he says."I think overall just playing with great players is big for me."
Ahmed Hill's Cherry Bekaert team lost in their opening game despite him scoring 19 points. He's score 13 in a consolation game win, but feels he's done enough to try and get an NBA job. "I think I'm getting better", he says. Shayok found he had to leave a talented Virginia Cavalier team to showcase his skills. While at Iowa State, he averaged 18 points a game. Shayok won Most Outstanding Player of the Big 12 Tournament as the Cyclones got wins over Baylor, Kansas State and Kansas. He started off on fire in his opening game at the P.I.T. with a game high 37 points in a win that included 7 of 9 from the 3-point line. "I came here with the mindset I play my game and be confident. Do what I do best. It's fun out there playing basketball again".