Silas out of Portsmouth Invitational with injury

The rosters for the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament (PIT) were released on Friday, but Northern Illinois' Xavier Silas name was nowhere to be found. 

Red and Black Attack has learned through the website DraftExpress.com that Silas will not be participating in this year's PIT due to injury.  The injury at this time is unknown, but I suspect it is the same ankle sprain that shut down his senior season.

Silas has been projected by some draft experts as a possible secound-round pick in the upcoming NBA draft.  Silas has the prototypical height (6'5") and shooting skills that NBA scouts look for.  He is currently training in Las Vegas.

Playing in the PIT would have given a chance for Silas to prove himself against the top college seniors in the country.  Some of the players expected to participate in this year's PIT are Ohio State's sharp-shooter Jon Diebler, Wisconsin big-man Jon Leuer, Pitt's Brad Wanamaker,  and VCU's Jamie Skeen. 

Some of PIT alumni include Hall-of-Famer Scottie Pippen, former defensive-player-of-the-year Ben Wallace, Derek Fisher, and most recently Lakers wing-man Matt Barnes and current Bull Rasual Butler.