Kansas basketball: Is the Maui Invitational still on after Lahaina wildfires?

Will the 2023 Maui Invitational stay in Hawaii after the devastating Lahaina wildfires this summer? Stay tuned and find out where Kansas basketball is playing next week.

In one of the most destructive national disasters in recent American history, the island of Lahaina in Hawaii was struck by Category 4 Hurricane Dora in August. It decimated over 2,000 residential buildings and left more than 100 citizens dead.

The Lahaina Civic Center has been the home of the Maui Invitational since 1984. Although it remained unscathed after the wildfires, the island is still working its way back from the tragedy. The Maui Strong Fund — which the Kansas Jayhawks and Illinois Fighting Illini donated to in their preseason scrimmage — is serving as aid for those who have been displaced from their homes.

Therefore, the Maui Invitational will be played in a different arena this year. Here is where it’ll take place.

Where is Kansas basketball playing in the 2023 Maui Invitational?

The 8-team in-season tournament was moved to the SimpliFi Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center on the island of Oahu, Honolulu.

In each season besides 2020 and 2021, the Civic Center has hosted the Maui Invitational. The Asheville Civic Center and Michelob Ultra Arena hosted it in those two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kansas basketball is among eight schools competing in one of the most packed brackets the tournament has ever seen. Marquette, Gonzaga, Purdue, Tennessee, UCLA, Syracuse, and host school Chaminade are in the field.

KU won the tournament in 2015 and 2019. The Jayhawks are the top seed and will face the Chaminade Silverswords in round one. They are a Division II university based out of Honolulu. The winner of that game will take on the winner of Marquette vs. UCLA. If Kansas makes it past their first two games, they will compete against Purdue, Tennessee, Gonzaga, or Syracuse in the title game on Nov. 22.