Maui, Hawaii – The Maui Jim Maui Invitational announced today that BYU men’s basketball has been named to its 2019 field that also includes Dayton, Georgia, Kansas, Michigan State, UCLA, Virginia Tech and host Chaminade.
The 36th annual tournament, which will be contested November 25-27 at the historic Lahaina Civic Center on the island of Maui, with feature a collection of programs that boasts a combined 198 NCAA Tournament appearances, 44 Final Four berths and an incredible 16 national championships.
“The Maui Jim Maui Invitational has earned a reputation for showcasing powerhouse teams year over year, and we are thrilled to continue that tradition in 2019,” said Tournament Chairman Dave Odom. “The Lahaina Civic Center will host some of college basketball’s best programs, coaches and players when these eight teams converge in Maui.”
Prior to the 2018 season, UCLA held the record for consecutive Division I regular season conference titles (13), only to have that record broken by fellow Maui contender, Kansas, this past season. Four programs – Kansas, Michigan State, UCLA and Virginia Tech – earned NCAA Tournament berths this season. The Jayhawks will compete in their 15th Final Four in program history, fifth-most in tournament history, this weekend.
The Lahaina Civic Center will once again feature the game’s top coaches in 2019. Kansas’ Bill Self and Michigan State’s Tom Izzo, both Hall of Fame inductees, along with Georgia’s Tom Crean, UCLA’s Steve Alford, Virginia Tech’s Buzz Williams and BYU’s Dave Rose will make return trips to the island. Dayton’s Anthony Grant was an assistant coach with Florida in 1999 and will make his first head coaching appearance in the Tournament. Self, Izzo, Crean, Alford, Rose, Grant and Chaminade’s Eric Bovaird have played or coached in the national semifinals.
Three coaches from the 2019 field have taken multiple teams to the Maui Jim Maui Invitational, including Alford (Iowa, UCLA), Crean (Marquette, Indiana) and Self (Illinois, Kansas). Williams will join that list in 2019, having coached Marquette in 2012, while Crean is poised to become just the second coach in history to bring three programs to the Maui Jim Maui Invitational (Rick Barnes: Providence, Texas and Tennessee).
Since the inception of the Maui Jim Maui Invitational in 1984, 124 schools representing 26 conferences and 40 states have competed in the event. Teams that have participated in the Maui Jim Maui Invitational throughout the event’s history own 68 of the 79 NCAA Division I Basketball Championships. Six schools have gone on to win the National Championship after competing in Maui earlier in the season.
Fans can immediately begin planning to catch all the action at the 2019 Maui Jim Maui Invitational. Log on to mauiinvitational.com/2019travel for details on 2019 All-Tournament travel packages, good for access to all 12 games of the 2019 Tournament. School Booster travel packages for the 2019 Maui Jim Maui Invitational will be available at a later date. Visit mauiinvitational.com/2019info and register to receive email alerts from the Tournament.
