LAS VEGAS — The Maui Invitational was all set to say aloha to the mainland and return to the islands. Gov. David Ige had signed off, the mayor of Lahaina was onboard and tournament officials were all set.
Two weeks later, the plan was scrapped. Coronavirus cases started to spike again and it really didn’t make much sense to have eight teams head to Maui to play basketball games.
So, a year after being played in Asheville, North Carolina, the Maui Invitational will continue its mainland tour under the glittering lights of The Strip in Las Vegas.
“The goal always is to be in Maui because that’s where it was born and that’s where it has developed,” tournament chairman Dave Odum said. “Given that we were not able to do that for the second year in a row due to the COVID situation, we are more delighted to be situated in Las Vegas.”
Tournament officials worked into early September trying to lock down this year’s tournament, setting an Oct. 1 deadline. Once it was clear Maui was not an option, they scouted several places to hold the tournament before working out a plan to play at Mandalay Bay’s Michelob Ultra Arena.
It’s not quaint Lahaina Civic Center and certainly not along the beach, but Las Vegas is a nice temporary locale until the tournament returns to the islands, hopefully next year. The eight-team event runs Monday through Wednesday.
“We’re not going to have palm trees growing out of the arena or things like that, but we do have a real island feel,” Odum said. “Las Vegas is known as a ninth island anyway, so we feel very good where we are with the tournament.”
The Maui Invitational typically has a strong field and this year is no different.
The bracket includes No. 12 Oregon, No. 15 Houston, Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Texas A&M, Butler and St. Mary’s. Tournament host Chaminade, which is in the main bracket every other year, made a much longer trip this time, heading to Vegas instead of the short flight from Honolulu to Maui.
