MSU women’s basketball recently announced through a press release that the team will join the men’s program to play in the PK80 Invitational. Along with the Spartans, Oregon women’s basketball will be hosting the University of Connecticut and the University of Oklahoma at the Matthew Knight Arena on Nov. 25 next season.
The men’s tournament will feature not only the Spartans, but Oregon, Arkansas, Duke, Florida, Georgetown, Gonzaga, North Carolina, Ohio State University, Oklahoma, Portland, Portland State, Stanford and Texas. The men will be playing in Portland on the Thursday, Friday and Sunday of the same weekend the women play.
The PK80 Invitational is a basketball event celebrating the co-founder of Nike and 2012 Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame member Phil Knight’s 80th birthday.
“First, I think to have the opportunity to celebrate somebody who has been so influential in our culture as a country and now globally is something pretty special,” head coach Suzy Merchant said in the press release. “Phil Knight has done so much with his successes and given back and built a dynasty and a brand that is recognizable to everyone in the world. How neat is it to be able to celebrate somebody who has really built something from nothing?”
The tournament will have all four women's teams playing in one day. MSU will be going head-to-head against the currently undefeated Connecticut, while Oregon will play against Oklahoma. MSU is 1-1 against Huskies.
“Then to have the opportunity to play UConn? Every girl grows up knowing that UConn is an amazing basketball team and to be able to play them even on a neutral site makes it even better,” Merchant said in the press release. “We are looking forward to it. To be the best you have to compete against the best. We are looking forward to the challenge ahead.”
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