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In commemoration with Phil Knight’s 80th birthday, a basketball tournament honoring the Nike co-founder will take place over Thanksgiving in 2017. Gonzaga is one of 16 teams that will play in the PK80 Invitational.
The event will be most likely the premier non-conference tournament of the 2018 slate. Arkansas, Butler, Connecticut, Duke, Florida, Georgetown, Michigan State, North Carolina, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, Portland, Portland State, Stanford and Texas will all take place in the two-tournament event, held at the Rose Quarter in Portland, Oregon.
Games will take place at both the Moda Center and the Veterans Memorial Coliseum, with scheduled dates of Thursday, Nov. 23, Friday, Nov. 24, and Sunday, Nov. 26.
“This going to be an awesome event. It’s an honor for us at Gonzaga to be part of this tournament and an honor for me to be in it. Nike has been a huge part of my life since I was in the second grade and got my first basketball shoes. It’s cool that this tournament is in the Northwest, and the teams that are in the field are going to make it a first-class event,” said Mark Few in a press release.
As the website very proudly displays, there are 23 national championships, 89 Final Four appearances, and 391 NCAA Tournament appearances by teams participating in the tournament.
The rumors have been swirling around for this tournament for quite some time in the area, and it is exciting to see it come to fruition. Gonzaga is primed and loaded to be one of the better teams in the 2017-18 season, and the PK80 Invitational will be the perfect test.