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After a two-year hiatus on the Mainland due to the pandemic, the annual Maui Jim Maui Invitational men's college basketball tournament returns to Lahaina Civic Center this week.
Starting Monday, the focus of the college basketball world will be centered on the little cracker box gym that has earned a reputation as the sport's preseason mecca. Headlined by five teams in The Associated Press Top 25, eight squads will play 12 games over three days. Every tilt will be aired live on one of the ESPN channels.
It has not always been this way. The brainchild of Mark Rolfing in collaboration with officials from Chaminade University, the first two tournaments were four-team affairs held in Wailuku's War Memorial Gym in 1984 and 1985. It was the Maui Classic back then. We don't think anyone besides Rolfing had an inkling of what it could grow into.
Providence defeated host Chaminade in the 1984 final and Michigan topped Kansas State in 1985. The event was expanded to eight teams and moved to Lahaina Civic Center in 1986. With increasing national television exposure and improving fields, the next two years showed the tournament might just have some staying power.
Then came the sweltering hot tournament of 1988. Michigan returned and beat Oklahoma in the final, 91-80, behind the smooth shooting of tournament MVP, Glen Rice. Those two schools brought a lot of fans, but not nearly as many as UNLV's Runnin' Rebels under head coach Jerry Tarkanian. UNLV flew in its band and cheerleaders. Its raucous supporters packed the gym, which was not air conditioned in those days. We'll never forget Los Angeles Lakers General Manager Jerry West sitting at the scouts' table with his hands over his ears because the band was so loud.
Until COVID-19, it was full-speed ahead every year after. Four additional Maui winners went on to claim national championships the following March: North Carolina in 2004, 2008, 2016, and the University of Connecticut in 2010. The MVP of that 2010 UConn team was diminutive guard Kemba Walker. Though he was one of the smallest players to take the Lahaina Civic Center court that year, Walker dominated games, even passing to himself by bouncing the ball off the backboard.
It would be hard to pick the greatest game ever, but the last two championship finals played on the island are certainly in the running. In 2018, Gonzaga and MVP Rui Hachimura defeated Zion Williamson and No. 1 Duke in a buzzer-beating thriller, 89-87. The following year saw big shot after big shot as Kansas topped Dayton in overtime, 90-84. Another top contender would have to be the Zags' 2005 semifinal victory over Michigan State, 109-106, in three overtimes.
We admit to thinking the Maui Jim Maui Invitational might be gone for good when it was relocated to the Mainland in 2020. It is great to see the tourney return for another three days of top-level college hoop action.