Blue Devils Will Compete in 2017 Nike PK80 Tournament
Duke Basketball will compete in a college basketball tournament featuring some of the top NCAA programs honoring Nike founder Phil Knight in 2017.
The Duke Men’s Basketball program was invited to participate in what is already being called the best college basketball tournament ever. Nike announced that it will hold an in-season NCAA tournament called PK80 in 2017 to honor the 80th birthday of the company’s founder Phil Knight.
PK80 will feature 16 Nike-sponsored schools competing against each other in two separate eight-team tournaments. The Blue Devils were selected as one of two teams to represent the ACC, along with rival UNC. They will be joined in a stacked tournament featuring some of the top college basketball programs including Georgetown and Butler (Big East), Michigan State and Ohio State (Big Ten), Texas and Oklahoma (Big 12), Florida and Arkansas (SEC), Oregon and Stanford (PAC 12), Connecticut (AAC), and Portland State (Big Sky).
Last year, the athletics department announced that they extended the school’s licensing agreement with Nike through 2017. The Blue Devils have been signed with the brand since 1992. Duke Men’s Basketball Mike Krzyzewski issued a statement on the tournament recognizing the Nike founder, saying:
“Phil Knight has been a visionary and an innovator for a long time. PK80 is a unique way we can honor him and the contributions he has made not just to the game of basketball, but to all of sport.”
The PK80 Tournament will be in Portland, Oregon at the Moda Center and Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The event will take place Thanksgiving Break in 2017 on Nov. 23, 24, and 26. Matchups and gametimes for the tournament will be announced at a later date.
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