Norfolk State star Joe Bryant Jr. added to Portsmouth Invitational Tournament field

Fear not, Norfolk State followers: Joe Bryant Jr. will compete in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament after all.

Bryant, a two-time Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Player of the Year who led the Spartans to two league championships after starring for Lake Taylor High, originally was just an alternate for the 64-senior field in the annual April 12-15 event at Churchland High. But Saturday, NSU coach Robert Jones posted on Twitter that Bryant was on the list to play.

Bryant’s omission from the original list had prompted criticism from some basketball fans in Hampton Roads, but his inclusion will boost local interest in the eight-team event. He averaged 17.8 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.1 assists in his final NSU season, and he was his team’s MVP during an all-star game for players from Historically Black Colleges and Universities as part of Final Four festivities in Houston.

Among the newest commitments for the tournament: North Carolina’s Pete Nance, who played most of his career for Northwestern; Memphis teammates DeAndre Williams and Kendric Davis; Saint Louis’ Yuri Collins; Texas Tech’s Kevin Obanor, an Oral Roberts transfer; New Mexico’s Morris Udeze; UCLA’s David Singleton; DePaul’s Umoja Gibson and Kent State’s Sincere Carry.