Why does Chaminade basketball play in the Maui Invitational?

Every year, fans and basketball programs around the country hope to play in the Maui Jim Maui Invitational, one of the top early-season tournaments in college basketball. The teams that are selected every year vary, but there is one constant in the tournament’s field: Chaminade basketball.

It all started in 1982, when Virginia was the No. 1 basketball team in the country and was led by Ralph Sampson, the National College Player of the Year. On their way back from a trip to Tokyo, Virginia stopped in Hawaii to play Chaminade, a school that wasn’t very well known but went on to beat the Cavaliers 77-72.

In 1984, two years later, Chaminade hosted the first Maui Invitational, and since then the nation’s top teams, coaches, and players have competed in the tournament.

Chaminade basketball has appeared in the Maui Invitational every year from 1984 to 2017. In 2011, the tournament expanded with four additional teams called “the mainland teams” that play the eight teams headed to Maui at home, and then play each other in regional games.

In 2018, the tournament changed the rules so that on every even-numbered year, Chaminade will be one of the mainland teams while eight D1 teams compete in the championship bracket, and on every odd-numbered year Chaminade will compete in the championship bracket.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Maui Invitational was played in Asheville, NC with a different look and feel, and the Silverswords were unable to make the tripe. In 2021 the event was held in Las Vegas, and Chaminade competed against Oregon, Notre Dame, and Butler, but lost all three games. Chaminade’s overall record in the Maui Invitational is 8-96, with their most recent victory coming against Cal in the 2017 tournament.

The Silverswords will kick off their 2023 Maui Invitational experience with a matchup against Kansas in the afternoon session of games.