This year’s Maui Invitational transferring to Honolulu

Jeff Borzello, ESPN Staff WriterSep 15, 2023, 01:42 PM ET

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• Basketball recruiting expert.
• Signed up with ESPN in 2014.
• Graduate of University of Delaware.This year’s Maui Invitational is transferring to Honolulu because of last month’s disastrous wildfires in Maui, the event revealed on Friday.It will return to the Lahaina Civic Center– which

  was spared from comprehensive damage however has acted as a catastrophe recovery center for FEMA– in 2024.” While we need to move this year’s competition off of Maui,

  we are identified to celebrate and honor the culture and customs that make this occasion so special,”stated Tom Valdiserri, executive vice president of KemperSports LIVE, the operator of the Maui Invitational.”Throughout this procedure, we’ve seen the spirit of’ohana in action. Thank you to Gov. Josh Green, Hawai’i Tourist Authority, and Mayor Richard Bissen as well as the personnel at Chaminade University of Honolulu and University of Hawai’i at Mānoa for working relentlessly with us to keep this year’s competition in Hawai’i.”This year’s tournament will be held at the Stan Constable Center on the

  school of the University of Hawai’i at Manoa.”We are disappointed that we might not make the Lahaina Civic Center available for the

  Maui Invitational this year, but we are thankful the Competition is remaining in Hawai’i,” Maui Mayor Richard Bissen said.”We value everything the Maui Invitational is doing to assist Maui and its citizens. “The Maui Invitational need to be this season’s premier nonconference competition, with a field headlined by Kansas, ranked No. 1 in ESPN’s most current Way-Too-Early Leading 25, No. 3 Purdue, No. 7 Gonzaga, No. 8 Tennessee and No. 10 Marquette. UCLA, Syracuse and Chaminade complete this year’s eight-team field.Honolulu was the website of the game that sparked the development of the Maui Invitational– Chaminade’s historic upset of No. 1 Virginia and Ralph Sampson in 1982. The event launched as a four-team tournament in 1984.