“Everybody that has come to this championship and been part of this championship has said, ‘Do you think this could happen in Waikiki … ?’ ”

— Kathy DeBoer, executive director, American Volleyball Coaches Association, to the Alabama media in 2015, listing site options for future NCAA Beach Volleyball Championships.

As his third-ranked University of Hawaii beach volleyball team opens the NCAA tournament today in Gulf Shores, Ala., against South Carolina, Rainbow Wahine coach Jeff Hall admits to having wondered the same thing.

And wanting to find out.

“They’ve done a really nice job (in Alabama) in the community, the course set-up…” Hall said from his hotel lanai, the courts arrayed below him. “But it would be good to have it at home,”

Some 4,340 miles from “home” as the volleyball flies — in an area once known as the “Redneck Riviera” or “LA” — Lower Alabama — and, more recently, the “Emerald Coast,” this is the seventh year of a national championship in college beach volleyball.

And all of them, three now by the NCAA and four by the forerunner AVCA, have been held along the same strip of white sand beach, 52 miles south of Mobile, Ala., near the Florida border on the Gulf of Mexico.

It will be there for at least four more years, running through 2022, under the current contract between the NCAA and Gulf Shores and Orange Beach Tourism and Sports Commission.

You get the feeling that Gulf Shores would like to become to NCAA beach volleyball what Omaha, Neb,. is to the College Baseball World Series — a permanent home.

Small wonder since the event now has a contract with ESPN to show all the matches in the eight-team, double-elimination tournament and last year produced 1,051 room nights and $1.15 million in economic impact while attracting about 6,000 visitors, according to the OBTSC.

For all that, the ascending sport of beach volleyball is more associated with southern California and Hawaii, and many coaches would like to at least see the event rotated through them.

“I think everyone would love to come to Hawaii, I know the coaches would,” Hall said. “We would love it, too, so we don’t have to travel so far. We were kicking it (sites) around the other day here.”

It is the SandBows’ fifth consecutive trip to the national championships, where they finished third last year and fourth in 2016. It is so much a part of their annual schedule that Hall booked them for an early-season match at South Carolina to get the team used to competing clear across the continent.

To bring the tournament to Hawaii’s shores would require a winning bid and, likely, Hawaii Tourism Authority support. UH’s 2015 bid was turned down, but the HTA has said it would be willing to assist in a future presentation.

The HTA is currently embracing pro volleyball, listing $650,000 to bring the Association of Volleyball Professionals here.

Another issue is location. While Queen’s Beach was fine for last week’s Big West Championship, Hall and others say a bigger “footprint” of land, enough to accommodate 10-12 courts, sponsor’s tents and TV locations, would be necessary. “The beach at the Hilton or Makaha could be possibilities,” Hall said. “We’ve got the infrastructure, the hotels and restaurants. I think it could work.”

Asked if he will attempt to twist athletic director David Matlin’s arm to make it happen, Hall pledged, “I’ll give it a good shot because so many people would be stoked if we could do that.”