Former Kansas, Iowa State and Cleveland State basketball forward Tristan Enaruna earned MVP honors at the recent Portsmouth Invitational Tournament for pro prospects who have exhausted their college eligibility.
Enaruna, a 6-foot-8, 220-pound native of The Netherlands , averaged 16.7 points (on 48.6% shooting) and 5.3 rebounds per game at the 64-player camp April 17-20 in Portsmouth, Virginia. His Jani-King team won the tournament .
Missouri guard Sean East made the all-tournament team with Enaruna, Josh Oduro (Providence), DJ Horne (North Carolina State), Tolu Smith (Mississippi State), Isaac Jones (Washington State) , Jahmir Young (Maryland), Jarod Lucas (Nevada), Joel Soriano (St. John’s) and Aaron Estrada (Alabama). East at the event averaged 20.0 points per contest.
Enaruna, a fifth-year player, averaged 19.6 points and 6.5 rebounds per game during his super-senior season at Cleveland State (21-15). He hit 49.8% of his shots, including 32.2% of his 3-point tries. Enaruna, who played the last two seasons at Cleveland State, ranks 16th in the CSU all-time record book with 1,232 career points.
Enaruna reached this scoring total in 70 career games, the second-fastest of any player in program history with 1,000 points or more.
Cleveland State’s Enaruna and MU’s East likely played well enough to guarantee them invitations to the NBA G League Elite camp May 11-12 in Chicago. Each year, a handful of players from the G League camp earn invitations to the NBA Combine.
Over the last two seasons, 11 players who competed at Portsmouth eventually earned an NBA contract (including two-way or 10-day contracts).
“Enaruna’s journey through various college programs as a fifth-year senior is a testament to his resilience and development as a player. His size, skill, and mobility combination make him a compelling prospect. Improving his 3-point shooting will be crucial for his NBA prospects,” wrote Brandon Jefferson of lastwordonsports.com .
Noted Isaac Condra of SI.com : “The fifth-year senior has a great combination of skill, size, length and mobility for a power forward. It’s clear he has the versatility and talent to play in the NBA. Sometimes playing at a high major school isn’t what’s best for a player. With Enaruna transferring down to a mid-major he was able to develop his on-ball skills and become more comfortable and confident with the ball in his hands.”
Condra added: “The next step for the power forward is developing his 3-point jumper. He made some strides in his final year in college but he’s still quite inconsistent from the outside. As someone who’s a non-center, then it’s going to be extremely vital that he becomes more effective as an outside shooter, especially off the catch.
“The Portsmouth Invitational Tournament was a success for Enaruna. So the big question is what’s next for him in the draft process? Undoubtedly he will receive an invite to the G League Elite Camp. If he’s able to perform at a high level yet again then he will likely get invited to the NBA Draft Combine. He could be the next Portsmouth Invitational star to get drafted to the NBA.”
Enaruna, who turns 23 on June 26, averaged 2.8 points and 1.6 rebounds a game for KU during the 2020-21 season, his sophomore campaign in Lawrence. He averaged 9.4 minutes a game in 25 games.
He averaged 2.4 points and 2.2 rebounds in 10.9 minutes per game through 30 games in 2019-20, his freshman year. At Iowa State in 2021-22 he averaged 4.3 points and 2.9 rebounds in 33 games (26 starts).
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