Maui Invitational returns to Lahaina Civic Center for first time since wildfire

Head coach Tom Izzo has brought his Michigan State University men’s basketball teams to the Maui Invitational four previous times, but when the Spartans arrive this weekend he will prepare his players for more than just trying to beat their opponents.

Izzo said he will talk to his team about the respect, love and honor due to the Lahaina community.

“Maui will be great because it’s always great, but we all know that it’s got a heavy heart because of everything that’s gone on the last couple years,” Izzo said Wednesday during a phone call from East Lansing, Mich.

“I’m looking forward to helping bring a smile to people’s faces that have been through a lot.”

The 41st Maui Invitational, which takes place Monday through Wednesday, will be the first large event held in the building adjacent to the burn zone since the wildfire of Aug. 8, 2023, that killed at least 102 people and destroyed much of the town.

The college basketball tournament was forced to move to Oʻahu last year due to the ongoing fire recovery effort. It also had relocated to Asheville, N.C., in 2020, and to Las Vegas in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The Maui Invitational returning to Lahaina, its home for 40 years, reflects our island’s resilience and commitment to heal,” Mayor Richard Bissen said in an emailed statement Thursday to the Hawai’i Journalism Initiative. “This nationally renowned tournament provides economic revitalization for Maui’s economy, bringing critical support for local businesses. Beyond basketball, it fuels scholarships, youth programs, and vital community initiatives.”

Bissen also said the tournament serves as a symbol of hope and economic recovery, as well as a way for the island to share its unique culture and aloha spirit.

The tournament is virtually sold out. The only contest with tickets remaining is the third-place game at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

Tom Valdiserri, the executive vice president/managing director for tournament organizer KemperSports Live, said that the event expects to bring more than 6,000 visitors to the island and will have an estimated economic impact of $24 million. Valdiserri said the decision to bring the tournament back to Maui was made after meetings with Bissen, the Hawai’i Tourism Authority and Gov. Josh Green.

This year’s bracket features eight teams, with four games played each day. Four of the teams are ranked in this week’s Associated Press top 10: No. 2 Connecticut, No. 4 Auburn, No. 5 Iowa State and No. 10 North Carolina.

Monday’s matchups are:

• Memphis vs. UConn at 9:30 a.m. on ESPN2
• Michigan State vs. Colorado at noon (ESPN2)
• Auburn vs. Iowa State at 4 p.m. (ESPNU)
• Dayton vs. North Carolina at 6:30 p.m. (ESPN2)

The championship game is set for noon Wednesday. 

Last season, Michigan State played an exhibition game against Tennessee to raise funds for Maui fire survivors. Izzo is enthusiastic that a group of his boosters will travel to Maui to help the economy firsthand for Thanksgiving week.

“We try to do what we can to help and I think our fans will be over there and hopefully do a lot of things that help the economy and just keep the whole entire atmosphere to be as upbeat as it possibly can be considering what people have lost,” Izzo said. “I’m going to be very conscientious of the people that are there.”

Izzo also has thought a lot about the message he will give his team: “Just to be grateful, be grateful for what you have and be helpful for what others have lost, that’s the best thing I can get out: Here today and gone tomorrow.”

He first brought his Spartans to Maui nearly 30 years ago in 1995. His teams also played in the tournament in 2005, 2010 and 2019.

“I’m going to just make sure our guys understand and appreciate that there are people who go through tough times,” he said. “Sometimes we think we’ve got it tough and yet there’s tougher times in different places. I feel privileged and appreciative that I get to be part of bringing things back.”

The tournament includes a fanfest area where local vendors and restaurants are set up outside to do business at the Lahaina Civic Center. The bulk of the estimated economic impact goes to West Maui hotels.

“Maui and the Lahaina Civic Center is our home,” said Valdiserri, who is here for his 16th Maui Invitational. “This is the 40th anniversary and it’s a great time to come back and we’re really excited to be here, especially with that outstanding field. … This is a good one, coming into the week with four of the top 10 is outstanding.”

KemperSports officials said that approximately 1,400 booster travel packages were sold to the eight schools and they include tickets to each one of their teams’ games, a five-night stay at one of the partner hotels in Kāʻanapali, shuttle transportation to and from games, Maui Jim sunglasses and a Tommy Bahama gift card.

The cost starts for the various packages at $3,000 per person. A portion of the money spent on the travel packages goes to Kemper for the tickets and a portion goes to the West Maui hotels.

The tournament website has a “know before you go” page that includes “Respecting the Island: Maui’s communities are still healing from the disaster they have experienced. Respectfully visiting Maui right now means visiting with aloha and empathy.”

Laksmi Abraham, Maui County director of communications and government affairs, said the county is confident that visitors will be respectful, something Izzo said he has spoken to county officials about.

“We trust that Maui Invitational groups will continue to do what they’ve always done in caring well for the people and places of Maui,” Abraham said in the email. “Maui Invitational has protocol for players and fans to follow when they visit, and it is outlined on the event website.”

Abraham added that beyond the hotels and short-term rental bookings, visitors spend on local dining, entertainment, shopping and retail, with local businesses seeing a boost during the tournament period. Proceeds from the tournament often support local organizations and schools. The teams are allowed one practice at the Lahainaluna High School gym or Maui Preparatory Academy’s Bozich Center gym and one at the civic center to prepare for the tournament.

“Also, the tournament is one of the biggest national sporting events on Maui, which can inspire keiki to pursue their own academic and athletic goals,” Abraham said. “When we invest in our biggest resource, our children, we know it will have lasting and positive returns.” 

Fans are told that portions of Lahaina remain closed and to abide by restrictions. They also are asked to respect residents’ feelings and need for privacy.

Organizers are also asking visitors to adhere to the Malama Maui County Pledge. One portion reads: “Remember that each step I take is upon land that is someone else’s home, sacred site and living history.”

Naomi Cooper, the interim executive director for the Maui Hotel & Lodging Association, said the Lahaina Festival, which includes local vendors and entertainment, also is taking place next week at the Royal Lahaina Resort.

She said it is a chance for locals to intermingle with the expected crop of visitors.

Abraham said the Office of Economic Development granted Kemper Sports Marketing $210,000, which included $8,000 for economic development, $20,000 for West Maui economic development and cultural programs and $182,000 for sports and events.

“The Maui Invitational bringing in this amount of attraction and bringing in this much excitement and support financially and media-wise allows for a lot of these other types of business or these other opportunities to thrive,” Cooper said.

For Izzo, Maui is special. His first victory as Michigan State’s head coach came on Nov. 20, 1995, when the Spartans beat Chaminade 69-66 in the first round of the Maui Invitational at the Lahaina Civic Center.

“Thank God we won it,” said Izzo, who has gone 710-296 since that night, including winning the 2000 NCAA championship. “I will never forget Judd Heathcoate, my old boss, and Magic Johnson were sitting right behind my bench and there was a lot of pressure as that game wound down.”

His other biggest memory of the event came in Nov. 21, 2005, when the then-No. 12 Spartans lost 109-106 in triple overtime to No. 8 Gonzaga in the tournament semifinals on a night the Zags’ Adam Morrison scored 43 points, a tournament record, and Michigan State’s Maurice Ager scored 36.

“That had to be one of the great games ever in Maui,” Izzo said.