PK80 - Phil Knight Invitational - Thanksgiving 2017

Many of us noticed that Hugh Hogland was dressed and ready to play during PK-80, but it turns out he was not going to play, he was just to given the experience of warming-up with the rest of the squad during such a special tournament and in a couple of special arenas.  He will redshirt.

Also, it looked as though JoJo Walker got banged around pretty well by a couple of flying body parts during the games against Oklahoma and DePaul.  Apparently JoJo went through the required concussion protocol and is "good to go" starting tonight against Multnomah.

After talking with a few of the players, I'd say the prevailing mood was a bit of letdown for not being more competitive.  They were sky-high for the UNC game and felt they played toe-to-toe with them for the most part, but also know they turned the ball over too many times to stay in the game until the end.  They also learned the size and speed of the opponents had worn them down a little by the time they played DePaul on Sunday....but of course none admitted it affected their performance any more than DePaul was affected.

The upcoming game in Boise will be against a very good offense in a hostile environment, but at least the guys now know something about good teams....the next lesson, playing on the road, their first time this season.

Word is there is going to be a PK-85 close to Thanksgiving in 2022 honoring Phil Knight's 85th birthday.

Too soon to tell if there will again be 16 teams or even if UP will participate...

In 2017, Arkansas, Butler, Connecticut, De Paul, Duke, Florida, Gonzaga, Michigan State, North Carolina, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, Portland, Portland State, Stanford and Texas played on Thanksgiving day, and the Friday and Sunday after Thanksgiving.

The Pilots lost to UNC, Oklahoma, and De Paul, but were competitive against National Champion UNC until the turnover bug took its toll.