When CBS revealed that Nike was putting together the in-season basketball event of the century (so far) in 2017,, we reached out Xavier's Director of Basketball Administration Mario Mercurio for his take on things. Mario told us the following:
We are excited about the possibility of this event and Xavier's participation. The event is still in the planning stages but what we do know at this point is obviously very exciting. To be identified as one of the top Nike programs in college basketball and to be included in this event is obviously a great honor. We look forward to continued dialogue on what could arguably be one of the greatest regular season basketball events ever.
There are almost 100 Nike-sponsored D-1 basketball programs (can you name them? Try your hand in this slightly outdated quiz!), so it's obviously a big deal that Xavier is considered one of the top teams when Nike decides to organize an event like this. As far as this being "arguably one of the greatest regular season basketball events ever"? Well, I'm hard-pressed to come up with one that hosts fifteen of the top programs in the nation and Portland.