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Purdue and UConn are the BIG WINNERS at the Phil Knight (PK) Tourneys
For those of you who may have been following, for his 85th birthday, Phil Knight held another basketball event up in Portland, the so-called PK85. A similar event was held for Knight's 80th birthday. This time around, the event include TWO 8-team tournaments for each of the men and women. I'm focusing here on here.
The PK "Invitational" featured North Carolina, Portland, Villanova, Iowa State, UConn, Oregon, Alabama, and Michigan State.
The PK "Legacy" included Duke, Oregon State, Xavier, Florida, Purdue, West Virginia, Gonzaga, and Portland State.
Obviously, that's a lot of big time talent for a single event in a city like Portland.
The two big winners (and big surprises) were Purdue (who crushed Gonzaga and Duke, while handling West Virginia) and UConn (who blew out Oregon and Alabama, before beating Iowa State decisively in the Finals).
The PK Invitational also featured an early candidate for Game of the Year, with Alabama knocking off defending National Runner Up UNC in Quadruple Overtime. UNC also lost its prior game to Iowa State, which had a real nice showing.
Purdue's ginormous center Zach Edey was definitely the player who emerged from the event with the most limelight, and now is being talked about as a potential Player of the Year candidate.
Oregon salvaged a disastrous weekend by beating struggling Villanova on Sunday, and doing so without Oregon's best player so far this season, N'Faly Dante, who suffered a concussion against Michigan State.
Speaking of Villanova, which has been playing without star freshman Cam Whitmore: the Wildcats are REALLY, REALLY struggling to start the post-Jay Wright era. Nova dropped all three games in Portland, including to the University of Portland by 12 points.
The PK "Invitational" featured North Carolina, Portland, Villanova, Iowa State, UConn, Oregon, Alabama, and Michigan State.
The PK "Legacy" included Duke, Oregon State, Xavier, Florida, Purdue, West Virginia, Gonzaga, and Portland State.
Obviously, that's a lot of big time talent for a single event in a city like Portland.
The two big winners (and big surprises) were Purdue (who crushed Gonzaga and Duke, while handling West Virginia) and UConn (who blew out Oregon and Alabama, before beating Iowa State decisively in the Finals).
The PK Invitational also featured an early candidate for Game of the Year, with Alabama knocking off defending National Runner Up UNC in Quadruple Overtime. UNC also lost its prior game to Iowa State, which had a real nice showing.
Purdue's ginormous center Zach Edey was definitely the player who emerged from the event with the most limelight, and now is being talked about as a potential Player of the Year candidate.
Oregon salvaged a disastrous weekend by beating struggling Villanova on Sunday, and doing so without Oregon's best player so far this season, N'Faly Dante, who suffered a concussion against Michigan State.
Speaking of Villanova, which has been playing without star freshman Cam Whitmore: the Wildcats are REALLY, REALLY struggling to start the post-Jay Wright era. Nova dropped all three games in Portland, including to the University of Portland by 12 points.