The first-ever 16-team men’s PK80 college basketball tournament will begin on Thursday when Portland and North Carolina tip off in Oregon. The women’s tournament will start on Saturday with No. 1 UConn and Michigan State.
PK80: Who is Phil Knight and why does he have a basketball tournament honoring him?
A new basketball tournament will tip on Thursday in his honor.
Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images
The games, which are in honor of Nike co-founder and former CEO Phil Knight’s 80th birthday will take place at the Moda Center and the Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The tournament features five top-25 men’s teams including No. 1 Duke, No. 4 Michigan State, No. 7 Florida, No. 9 UNC, and No. 17 Gonzaga. The women’s side includes No. 1 Connecticut and No. 10 Oregon.
The tournament is set to run from Nov. 23 to 26 for the men, and both women’s games are on Nov. 25.
There’s a lot to learn about all 20 teams participating, but first, we need to know why they’re playing.
Who is Phil Knight?
Knight is the co-founder of Nike, and he served as its CEO until 2004. He turns 80 in February, and to celebrate that and the impact he and his company have had on the game, ESPN will honor him with a tournament filled with champions.
Ok, but what did Knight actually do?
Knight is a huge reason why you care so deeply about which, and whose athletic shoes you wear out onto the court or maybe just to hang out with your friends. A story from The Atlantic detailed Knight’s influence. In it, Knight himself insisted he wasn’t in the shoe business, instead the entertainment business.
This all originated in 1972 with the Nike Cortez, which was made by Knight and Nike’s other co-founder, Bill Bowerman. Bowerman was Knight’s track and field coach at the University of Oregon. The Nike Cortez shoe grew in popularity because the U.S. Olympic track and field team Bowerman coached wore them at the 1972 games. People wanted to wear what the popular athletes were wearing, and that was a trend the Nike bought in to.
Wait, that’s awesome!
Hell yeah it is.
So is this tournament worth watching?
If you like watching a ton of good college teams and five of SB Nation’s projected 2018 NBA lottery picks, then yes!
Projected No. 4 pick, Marvin Bagley, No. 6 pick Jaren Jackson, No. 7 pick Miles Bridges, No. 11 pick Wendell Carter, and No. 12 pick Trevon Duval should all be in attendance. Those are all guys from Duke and Michigan State.
Wait, who are those guys? I haven’t watched much college ball yet.
We’re glad you asked. Since Duke and Michigan State played each other a week ago, we evaluated their play. You can read that here.
Anyway, thank Phil Knight and wish him an early happy birthday.
This should be a fun holiday weekend.
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