Univ. Of Oregon Names Arena

The University of Oregon’s new basketball home will be called Matthew Knight Arena, after a son of Nike co-founder Phil Knight and his wife, Penny.

Matthew Knight died at 34 in a scuba diving accident in El Salvador, where he was working to raise funds for an orphanage.

Phil Knight rarely speaks in public. He held a news conference at the Rose Garden Saturday with university officials to talk about the name. The arena is to replace McArthur Court.

Knight has put up $100 million for an athletic department legacy fund donation that helped push the arena project toward approval.