Maui Invitational Tournament

Maui Invitational Tournament
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2016 Maui Invitational Tournament

Logo of the Maui Jim Maui Invitational
Sport College Basketball
Founded 1984
No. of teams 12
Country  United States
Venue(s) Campus Sites (Opening & Regional Games)
Lahaina Civic Center
Maui, Hawaii (Championship Round)
Most recent
champion(s)
North Carolina
Most titles Duke Blue Devils (5)
TV partner(s) ESPN
Sponsor(s) Maui Jim
Official website mauiinvitational.com

The Maui Invitational, currently known as the Maui Jim Maui Invitational, is an annual early-season college basketball tournament that takes place Thanksgiving Week in Lahaina, Hawaii, at the Lahaina Civic Center on the island of Maui. It is hosted by Chaminade University of Honolulu, an NCAA Division II school. Seven NCAA Division I men's basketball teams are invited to Maui to complete the field. The Maui Invitational has been played since 1984, is carried by ESPN. Maui Jim became the title sponsor of the tournament in 2015; the previous fourteen tournaments sponsored by EA Sports.[1]

History

The tournament had its roots in a game that is considered one of the greatest upsets in college history. On December 23, 1982 the top-ranked and undefeated University of Virginia made a scheduled trip to Honolulu for a game. Originally seeking to play the University of Hawaii, Virginia agreed to play Chaminade, who at the time belonged to the NAIA, on the trip instead. In a game that was not televised and only covered by one sportswriter from outside the local media (Michael Wilbon of The Washington Post, who was in Honolulu to cover the University of Maryland's performance in the inaugural Aloha Bowl), Chaminade defeated the Ralph Sampson-led Virginia squad 77-72 in front of 3,300 spectators at the Honolulu International Center.[2] Shortly after the upset, Virginia head coach Terry Holland congratulated Chaminade's athletic director, Mike Vasconcellos, and suggested to him that he consider beginning a Hawaii tournament. Two years later, the Maui Classic was inaugurated with Chaminade reaching the finals and losing to Providence.[3]

Today the tournament provides schools an opportunity to compete on a neutral court with some of the top basketball programs in the country. Associated Press college basketball editor Jim O'Connell calls the Maui Jim Maui Invitational "the best in-season tournament in the country – the standard by which all others are compared."[4] Some 108 schools representing 26 conferences and 40 states have competed in the Maui Jim Maui Invitational. Four times the winner of the Maui Jim Maui Invitational Tournament has gone on to win the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship later that season: Michigan in 1988–89, North Carolina twicein 2004–05 and 2008–09, and Connecticut in 2010–11.

Of the eight teams which play in the Maui Jim Maui Invitational, generally there is one from each of the six major conferences (the Pac-12, Big Ten, Big 12, Big East (before its 2013 split), ACC, and the SEC), one from another conference such as the American Athletic Conference, Conference USA, the Mountain West Conference or the Atlantic 10, and Chaminade. Beginning with the 2011 tournament, the field includes four additional mainland teams that play the Maui-bound teams at home. The four mainland teams will then play each other in regional games. The winner from each game will square off in the championship contest, preceded by the consolation game between the losers.[5]

Effect on local economy

Each year more than 4,000 out-of state visitorsboosters, players, officials, team and game personnel, media representatives, sponsors, production crews and basketball fans in generalattend. The 2007 Maui Invitational Tournament ranked among Hawaii's top revenue-generating events, bolstering the local economy by more than $8 million according to financial data released by the Maui Visitors Bureau. The tournament has brought more than $110 million to Maui's economy since the tournament's debut in 1984 (through 2005).[6]

Yearly champions, runners-up, and MVPs

Year Winner Score Opponent Tournament MVP
1984 Providence 60–58 Chaminade Patrick Langlois, Chaminade
1985 Michigan 80–58 Kansas State Dell Curry, Virginia Tech
1986 Vanderbilt 87–71 New Mexico Will Perdue, Vanderbilt
1987 Iowa 97–74 Villanova Entire Iowa Team
1988 Michigan 91–81 Oklahoma Glen Rice, Michigan
1989 Missouri 80–73 North Carolina Doug Smith, Missouri
1990 Syracuse 77–74 Indiana Billy Owens, Syracuse
1991 Michigan State 86–61 Arkansas George Gilmore, Chaminade
1992 Duke 89–66 BYU Bobby Hurley, Duke
Penny Hardaway, Memphis State
1993 Kentucky 93–92 Arizona Travis Ford, Kentucky
1994 Arizona State 97–90 Maryland Mario Bennett, Arizona State
1995 Villanova 77–75 North Carolina Kerry Kittles, Villanova
1996 Kansas 80–63 Virginia Raef LaFrentz, Kansas
1997 Duke 95–87 Arizona Steve Wojciechowski, Duke
1998 Syracuse 76–63 Indiana Jason Hart, Syracuse
1999 North Carolina 90–75 Purdue Joseph Forte, North Carolina
2000 Arizona 79–76 Illinois Michael Wright, Arizona
2001 Duke 83–71 Ball State Mike Dunleavy, Jr., Duke
2002 Indiana 70–63 Virginia Bracey Wright, Indiana
2003 Dayton 82–72 Hawaii Keith Waleskowski, Dayton
2004 North Carolina 106–92 Iowa Raymond Felton, North Carolina
2005 Connecticut 65–63 Gonzaga Adam Morrison, Gonzaga
2006 UCLA 88–73 Georgia Tech Darren Collison, UCLA
2007 Duke 77–73 Marquette Kyle Singler, Duke
2008 North Carolina 102–87 Notre Dame Ty Lawson, North Carolina
2009 Gonzaga 61–59* Cincinnati Matt Bouldin and Steven Gray, Gonzaga
2010 Connecticut 84–67 Kentucky Kemba Walker, Connecticut
2011 Duke 68–61 Kansas Ryan Kelly, Duke
2012 Illinois 78–61 Butler Brandon Paul, Illinois
2013 Syracuse 74–67 Baylor C. J. Fair, Syracuse
2014 Arizona 61–59 San Diego St Stanley Johnson, Arizona
2015 Kansas 70–63 Vanderbilt Wayne Selden, Jr. and Frank Mason III, Kansas
2016 North Carolina 71–56 Wisconsin Joel Berry II, North Carolina

Championships by team

TeamChampionshipsYears
Duke51992, 1997, 2001, 2007, 2011
North Carolina41999, 2004, 2008, 2016
Syracuse31990, 1998, 2013
Arizona22000, 2014
Connecticut22005, 2010
Kansas21996, 2015
Michigan21985, 1988
Illinois12012
Gonzaga12009
UCLA12006
Dayton12003
Indiana12002
Villanova11995
Arizona State11994
Kentucky11993
Michigan State11991
Missouri11989
Iowa11987
Vanderbilt11986
Providence11984

Future tournament fields

2017

2018

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/24/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.