Maui Invitational teams grateful to be back in Lahaina at a time of need

LAHAINA — With Thanksgiving a day away, Bill Naylor is back where he usually is at this time of year — as the usher at Gate 3 for the Maui Invitational at the Lahaina Civic Center.

Naylor, a former University of Hawai’i at Hilo basketball player and head coach at Maui and King Kekaulike high schools, has been part of 28 Maui Invitationals over the years, dating back to the days when it was known as the Maui Classic.

Naylor was relieved to see the tournament moved to O’ahu last year in the aftermath of the Aug. 8, 2023, wildfire that killed at least 102 people in Lahaina. Now, he’s happy to see the event return, though this time with reminders of last year’s tragedy that include signs on the road into the venue saluting first responders and reminding drivers that the Hawaiian Homes neighborhood adjacent to the civic center is open to “locals only.”

On his wife Lei’s side of his family, Naylor knows “four to five” families who lost their West Maui homes in the fire.

“Things weren’t too happy around there for people in Lahaina (last year), so out of respect for the families and my friends and the nurses and first responders, I said, ‘I can’t work it anyhow,’ ” Naylor said when the event’s venue was in question. “So I was kind of glad they moved it to O’ahu. But I’m really glad it’s back now because we need the money back in Lahaina.”

Teams participating in the tournament are grateful to be back as well. 

The event opened Monday with a classic game that ranks among the great contests ever played in this tournament. Memphis surrendered a 13-point lead in the final 4 minutes of regulation before beating No. 2-ranked Connecticut, the two-time defending national champions, 99-97 in overtime. 

On Tuesday, the Tigers beat Michigan State 71-63 and No. 4 Auburn beat No. 12 North Carolina 85-72 to make it to today’s championship game that is set for a noon tipoff. Final games today include:

• Third-place game: No. 12 North Carolina vs. Michigan State, 4:30 p.m.
• Fifth-place game: No. 5 Iowa State vs. Colorado, 9:30 a.m.
• Seventh-place game: No. 2 UConn vs. Dayton, 7 p.m.

Memphis coach Penny Hardaway said after Monday’s victory that his own team could learn from the way the Lahaina community stood together during tough times.

“(West Maui) went through the horrible wildfires and it was devastating, but they grew together. They bonded,” Hardaway said in his Monday post-game news conference. “I said, ‘We need to use that type of strength for ourselves going into this fabulous tournament,’ and to be able to give them this game today.”

Hardaway was co-Most Valuable Player of the tournament, along with Duke’s Bobby Hurley, in 1992. The Tigers have been in this tournament five previous times: 1988, 1992, 1999, 2006 and 2011. By NCAA rule, teams are only allowed to take part in the same tournament once every four years.

“So thankful, so blessed to be here, to get the invitation to come, and I love everything about Maui, man,” Hardaway said. “I’m glad that it’s recovering now.”

KemperSports Live officials say the event has drawn more than 6,000 visitors and will generate approximately $24 million in economic impact on an island where visitor arrivals have declined since the fire. All 12 games are broadcast on ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU, with sunny Maui scenes sprinkled into commercial breaks.

Memphis senior guard Colby Rogers said his team spoke about the devastation outside the arena before taking the floor on Monday. The tournament was held in Honolulu last year due to the fire.

“It was unfortunate what happened with the fire and everything last year so we weren’t able to have the tournament last year, but I think for us, we’re just extremely grateful to be here this year, to be invited here and to play UConn the first game,” Rogers said. “We looked at it like this is an opportunity of a lifetime. This is why guys play basketball, why we be in the gym, why we wake up early, late hours, to have games like this and showcase our talent. We’re extremely grateful for this opportunity.”

Two of the three other Monday first-round games came down to the wire — No. 4 Auburn came back from 16 points down at halftime to beat No. 5 Iowa State 83-81 on a Johni Broome tip-in at the buzzer; and No. 12 North Carolina came back from 21 points behind in the second half to beat Dayton 92-20.

The other game Monday was a relative blowout as Michigan State beat Colorado 72-56.

Szymon Zapala is a 7-foot senior center for Michigan State — he hails from Poland.

“It’s amazing. I’m obviously from overseas, but I still know a lot about this tournament,” Zapala said. “It’s very popular. Just seeing the community out, it’s amazing.”

Zapala’s teammate Jase Richardson, a 6-3 freshman guard for the Spartans, said the tournament is important to young players.

“This has been a tournament pretty much all of us grew up watching, and then just the community would come out and watch these games, so it’s definitely really important to get the whole community back out, and I’m glad to be back in Maui,” Richardson said.

This tournament has a special place in Michigan State coach Tom Izzo’s heart. He was an assistant on the 1991 Spartans team that won the title here and his first win as a head coach came in 1995 when MSU beat Chaminade 69-66. He is on his fifth trip here as the Michigan State head coach and sixth trip overall. Los Angeles Lakers legend and MSU alum Magic Johnson sat behind the Spartans bench for each of their first two games this week.

“I just want all the people in this community to know that we back in the homeland there were devastated with them and support them and pray for them that things are going to get better and back to some form of normalcy. I think it will. I think this tournament helps that,” Izzo said. “This is a, as Szymon said, a worldwide tournament. It’s not just a United States tournament. It is a special place for me, the number of times I’ve been here.”

Colorado coach Tad Boyle also sees the importance of the tournament’s return to Maui.

“Well, number one, it’s great, and I’m happy for the residents of Maui and specifically Lahaina because of what they went through,” Boyle said Monday. “We’re very cognizant of that and appreciative to be back and maybe help get things back to normal, whatever that is, for the people that were affected by the wildfires. So our hearts go out to them for sure. I think it’s a great step in that direction.”

Naylor is happy to see see familiar faces from the folks he has helped guide to their seats over the years. 

“It feels like it’s been long enough, especially when you drive through Lahaina now and you see homes going back up again,” Naylor said. “And families telling you, ‘Oh, we got our permits.’ And I think that’s really good.”

Bob and Wendy Stauffer have owned a home in Maui Kaanapali Villas for the last five years and come to Maui twice a year. They live most of the time in Connecticut and are large fans of the No. 2-ranked Huskies, who will play for seventh place tonight against Dayton at 7 p.m.

“Bill is one of the most friendly people we’ve met here,” Bob Stauffer said. “It’s wonderful, we feel so welcome. It’s the whole ‘ohana experience here and we really appreciate it. I mean, we’re so thankful to be here and we love basketball, so what’s better than those two ingredients? … We come here, we chill and this is an added bonus to be here with the basketball, for sure.”

Stauffer said he feels the tournament provides at least some help with the recovery in Lahaina. It’s the first major event at the Lahaina Civic Center since the fire.

“Absolutely, it’s going to be a long healing period, we see that they’re starting to do the renovations now, and we’re excited to get back into that part of (Lahaina) town as soon as the time is right,” Stauffer said.