Organizers acknowledge Maui Invitational might not be held on Valley Isle this year

For the first time, the organizers of the Maui Jim Maui Invitational college basketball tournament have acknowledged that the event may not take place on Maui this year.

The event, scheduled for Nov. 23-25 at the Lahaina Civic Center, lost Stanford University as a participant two weeks ago when the Pac-12 Conference said no sports can take place amongst conference members until at least Jan. 1, 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The other teams in the 2020 event are Alabama, Davidson, Indiana, North Carolina, Providence, Texas and UNLV.

The Maui News asked organizer KemperLesnik directly if the tournament -- which has been played on the Valley Isle every year for the past 36 years -- could possibly be moved to the Mainland this fall.

"At this time, we expect the Maui Jim Maui Invitational to proceed as scheduled," KemperLesnik said in an emailed statement Thursday. "The Tournament is evaluating various contingencies should the event not be played on Maui due to the pandemic. Our top priority remains the health and safety of our players, staff and dedicated fans."

The final determination on the event appears to be less than a month away.

"The Tournament is working with participating schools and its college basketball partners to monitor the NCAA's decision expected in mid-September regarding the start of the college basketball season to understand how it could affect the 2020 Maui Jim Maui Invitational," the statement concluded.

KemperLesnik provided economic impact estimates for the event on Maui in June. They estimated that the 2019 event generated approximately $23 million, and the 2018 tournament generated $21.99 million.

Over the past six years, KemperLesnik estimated the impact at more $100 million and over the life of the tournament -- which began at War Memorial Gym in Wailuku in 1984 as a four-team event -- the estimate is more than $270 million.

* Robert Collias is at rcollias@mauinews.com.