Published on November 25th, 2024 by Inside Carolina
LAHAINA, Hawaii — Hubert Davis, with sunglasses on and a lei draped over his Hawaiian-style shirt, sat behind the elevated press conference table in the outdoor area of Hyatt Regency Maui Resort seated beside Michigan State’s Tom Izzo and UConn’s Dan Hurley.
North Carolina, along with seven other programs, left the mainland to play in the 40th anniversary of the Maui Invitational. Each of the eight head coaches gathered on Sunday took part in some pre-tournament festivities, and the setting for the press conference portion greatly contrasted a typical media room session. The head coaches discussed x’s and o’s and trends in college basketball with a bevy of palm trees and a vast body of water behind them.
On the beaches in Maui, there’s an elegance in which the waves splash upon the shore. Mountains stand visible from miles away, even behind layers of clouds. In the evening, the sun magnificently sets upon the island as visitors and natives make their way around.
But even with the eye-catching serenity, inescapable evidence remains of an island starkly different from what it once was.
The Maui Invitational returns to the Lahaina Civic Center this year after a one-year hiatus. A series of wildfires ravaged the island in August 2023, causing the loss of more than 100 lives, the destruction of more than 2,200 structures and an estimated $5.5 billion in damage. The district of Lahaina took the brunt of the impact, so last year’s games were played inside SimpliFi Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu.
Along the freeway in Lahaina, one can see traces of compromised plant life and damaged buildings. Natives lament the loss of the feel the island once had but still hold pride for the place they call home. So, with the unique experience of seeing Hawaii and the opportunity to play against some of college basketball’s elite, Davis said he’s keeping things in “perspective” this week.
“You make so much of basketball, but it’s people’s lives that were changed,” Davis said on Sunday. “And to come back here and, maybe for a moment, take people away from what they’re going through and put a smile on their faces, that’s an opportunity to serve and that’s a place that our team always likes to be in.”
The 2,400-seat Civic Center has hosted the Maui Invitational almost every year since 1984. The tournament was not held there in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19, and last year due to the wildfires. The event was played in Asheville in 2020 and Las Vegas in 2021.
UNC has played in eight previous Maui Invitationals dating back to 1989. North Carolina won the event in 1999, 2004, 2008 and 2016. The last three times the Tar Heels won the Maui Invitational — all under Roy Williams — they went on to win the national championship. North Carolina is second to Duke in all-time Maui Invitational championship wins, as the Blue Devils won the event five times.
UNC is 22-4 across all games in the Maui Invitational, including 18-3 in Lahaina.
Davis played in the tournament in Maui as a player in 1989 and as an assistant coach in 2012 and 2016. Davis was on staff when the tournament was played in Asheville in 2020, the season before he became the head coach.
UNC’s head coach of four seasons remembers his trip in November 1989, biking down a mountain with his teammates at dawn at the instruction of then-assistant coach Bill Guthridge — an activity that, “thinking about it at 54 (years old),” was considerably dangerous. Davis also recalls King Rice’s game-winner against James Madison in the first round, the team’s semi-final win against Villanova and the championship loss to Missouri.
He likened game preparation to the ACC Tournament in how games occur on consecutive days. And while the atmosphere is different from a conference tournament or March Madness, Davis described it as “a real cool experience that only can happen here in Maui.”
The island of Maui continues its efforts to recover from profound devastation while celebrating the beauty of what remains. With this year’s tournament back in its original venue, North Carolina and the other seven participating teams are taking part in the annual tournament that holds another level of significance than years past.
“Our team has a really clear perspective in terms of being thankful,” Davis said. “A blessing and an honor, not only to play here, but to play the game. Obviously, they know the history of Maui and the Invitational being played here after all the stuff that happened here. But our guys have always had a clear picture of looking beyond themselves in a way of thankfulness and appreciation for doing something that they love, with people that they love, at a place that they love.”
Jeremiah Holloway 