Phil Knight Invitational Welcomes College Basketball Elite To Portland In 2017
Phil Knight turns 80 next year, and in his honor the City of Portland and Nike will host a College Basketball Tournament unlike any other.
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If you are a fan of College Basketball, Christmas might as well come early next year. Portland will host a 16 team, two venue tournament with the best of College Basketball on display. The Phil Knight Invitational. We’re talking NCAA Tournament style, Sweet 16 and higher brackets in November of next year.
The teams playing in honor of Mr. Knight, all NIKE schools, include Portland, Portland State, Arkansas, Butler, Connecticut, Duke, Florida, Georgetown, Gonzaga, Michigan State, North Carolina, Ohio State, Texas, and from the Pac-12 Oregon and Stanford.
Per the NCAA, teams that are in the same Conference will not face one another and will play in two separate venues, at the Moda Center and Memorial Coliseum. Games will be played on November 23rd, 24th, and 26th 2017 over Thanksgiviing Weekend.
Andy Katz discussed his take on the Tournament and was like a kid in a candy store, “It’s goosebumps, This is just an incredible field of coaches and teams not just now, but historically in College Basketball. You can look at a semi final and think it’s a final four quality event in both brackets. That is what makes it unique to any tournament we’ve put on before.”
The ESPN Analyst also spoke very highly of the Oregon Ducks and Head Coach Dana Altman entering the 2016 season, “I think Dana Altman has done as a good a job as you’ve seen in College Basketball in the last couple of years…consistently their roster continues to improve. …over the course of his career has consistently exceeded expectations.”
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