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Kicking off in 2017, the Phil Knight Invitational began as a birthday celebration for the Nike co-founder and chairman emeritus in which The Swoosh invited 16 of their sponsored men’s and women’s basketball programs to Portland during Thanksgiving weekend. 2022 marked the third year of the Phil Knight Invitational and Legacy Tournaments, with Duke, North Carolina, and Michigan St. as the headliners for both brackets. Yet all eyes were on the University of Oregon at the Moda Center as everyone was trying to get a look at the team’s on-court lineup of PE’s designed specifically for the weekend.
Nike always goes hard for Knight’s alma mater with exciting uniforms and on-court propositions. The Ducks showed up to the invitational with exclusive iterations of the Nike KD 15, Zoom Freak 4, and Zoom GT Cut 2.
Each pair followed suit in a stealthy arrangement of Black-on-Black with eye-catching Gold finishes for a touch of luxury. The monochrome approach extended to the laces, tongues, and sock-liners, with the signature Nike Swoosh being the gleaming Gold standout. While all of the sneaker’s traditional logos and fixings were present, the details camouflaged into the all-Black abyss. Each pair is finished with a final touch of Gold along the midsole, which features a cunning reflective tread.
The University of Oregon x Nike “2022 Phil Knight Invitational” PEs were made exclusively for the tournament and won’t be releasing to the public, but you can catch a glimpse of the special sneakers below. For more sneaker news and release dates, follow @NiceKicks on Twitter.
