Maui Invitational relocating to Honolulu in the wake of the wildfires that devastated Lahaina

By Mark Anderson

Associated Press

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Published: Sep 15, 2023 at 2:32 pm

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President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden take an aerial tour on Marine One over areas devastated by the Maui wildfires on Aug. 21, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (Evan Vucci/AP)

The Maui Invitational will be held in Honolulu this year because of the wildfires that devastated Lahaina, where the tournament usually is played.

Games will be played at the Stan Sheriff Center on Hawaii’s campus on Nov. 20-22 and the tournament will again feature a loaded field that includes potential top-10 teams Kansas, Purdue, Gonzaga, Tennessee and Marquette. Syracuse, Chaminade and UCLA round out the field.

This is the third time in four years the tournament has had to be played somewhere other than Maui. Restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic forced tournament officials to move the event to Asheville, North Carolina in 2020 and it was relocated to Las Vegas in 2021.