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STAR-ADVERTISER / 2017
Chaminade’s Braden Koelliker stepped back to shoot a three-pointer during the Maui Jim Maui Invitational 7th place game against the Cal Golden Bears at the Lahaina Civic Center.
For the first time in its 37-year history, the Maui Invitational will be played away from Hawaii.
Very far away, in Asheville, N. C., the tournament announced today.
Citing the impact from COVID-19, the tournament, which is run by Chicago-based Kemper Lesnik, said on its website, “We’re taking Maui to the mainland!”
The eight-team Thanksgiving week event, which has been played in the Lahaina Civic Center since 1987, will move to Harrah’s Cherokee Center, “operating under the guidance of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services for mass gatherings,” the statement said.
Although dates were not immediately announced, they are expected to be Nov. 30 to Dec. 2 and still include Alabama, Davidson, Indiana, North Carolina, Providence, Stanford, Texas and Nevada-Las Vegas.
Host Chaminade is not in this year’s main bracket rotation.
The Maui Invitational has been the county’s biggest money-making event drawing approximately 6,000 visitors and generating $12.15 million in direct visitor expenditures, Maui officials have said.
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