2024 Maui Invitational diary, Day 1: Covering the Flyers in Hawaii

The Green Lot shuttle bus driver at CMH was listening to a podcast or CD early this morning. The topic was gratitude. I certainly am grateful the Dayton Daily News considers our coverage of the Flyers important enough to send me 4,000 miles for the Maui Invitational. That’s one reason I’m doing this daily diary. It’s extra content. I can write about my travel experiences, behind-the-scenes moments from the tournament, etc.

Five years ago, I had a very similar itinerary on the way to Maui, except for a connection in Denver. I landed in Maui with just enough time to jump in the ocean on the way to my place. I’m scheduled to land at 3 p.m. today, or 8 p.m. Ohio time.

I stayed at an AirBnB with an outdoor shower in downtown Lahaina in 2019, a block from the historic district that was destroyed by the deadly wildfires in 2023. The tournament’s return to the Lahaina Civic Center after moving to Honolulu a year ago will be a topic I’m sure the coaches of the eight teams will talk about Sunday morning at a press conference.

The Associated Press wrote about the subject earlier this week:

Three generations of TJ Rickard’s family lost their homes in the deadly Maui wildfire more than a year ago, and he and his extended family still have not rebuilt. That leaves Rickard, a high school basketball coach, conflicted about next week’s return of the storied Maui Invitational college tournament.

Like many, Rickard is excited to have top-drawer basketball played in Lahaina’s humble arena, but he worries people will think it’s business as usual in his hometown. In truth, he says, Lahaina is still struggling after the fire killed at least 102 people and leveled thousands of homes.

“Not even a minute drive away from where they play, there’s houses that are burned down that are still waiting to be rebuilt,” said Rickard, the boys head coach at Lahainaluna High School.

Many residents are excited about the local exposure to high-caliber competition and the economic boost the Maui Invitational will bring. But there’s also a fear that travelers might show disrespect by wandering into the Lahaina burn zone and taking photos of the devastation, or trigger unpleasant memories with questions about that catastrophic day.

“People are in a weird state right now over here because there’s so much displacement and loss of community,” said Jon Conrad, Lahainaluna’s athletic director. “It’s a highly sensitive and slightly charged environment.”

This will be the second Maui Invitational to be held at the Lahaina Civic Center since Dayton’s last appearance in the tournament in 2019. The tournament was held in Asheville, N.C., in 2020 and Las Vegas, Nev., in 2021 because of the pandemic. Arizona won the last Maui Invitational held in Maui in 2022.

Dayton forward Zed Key played in the 2022 tournament as a junior at Ohio State. The Buckeyes beat Cincinnati 81-53 in their second game, and Zey made an appearance at the postgame press conference.

“What was it like to play Cincinnati, an in-state team, here on Maui, what, 4,000 miles away?” Key was asked.

“It was a little weird,” Key said. “Like you said, they’re in state, an hour and a half down the road. But it’s just another game. It’s another team in front of us. Just trying to get to our goal. It’s another game. I was excited to play. I know the team was. It was a little weird to flying out here to Hawaii and playing them. But excited we got to play them. And the coaches made it very clear that they got us the last two times that they played us, so that definitely fueled us up for today’s game.

11:06 a.m. (Mountain time) — You know it’s a long flight when a blanket comes with your seat. I’m on board a flight from Salt Lake City to Maui. It’s six-plus hours from here to the island.

It’s safe to say Dayton fans are winning this flight. I’ve seen at least a dozen UD fans, one wearing a Timothy’s shirt. I’ve seen UConn, Iowa Sate and at least one Michigan State fan as well. I figured this would be a popular connecting flight for fans traveling to the Maui Invitational.

Shoutout to Dayton fan Jack Laszewski, who recognized me on the flight and asked where Chase, my 6-year-old son is. I write about Chase often, but I’m still pleasantly surprised when people I haven’t met know who he is. Chase is a couple years away from going on a trip this long. At least, he got to go to A-10 Media Day, or accompanied me on my trip to Washington for that event. Hard to compete with Maui, though.

I did have time to watch the first drive of the Indiana vs. Ohio State game while at the SLC airport. I hope to catch some of the game on the flight. I’ve got to put together my top-25 poll early tomorrow morning.

6:29 p.m. (Maui time) — I’ve arrived in the islands. Our flight was 30 minutes late, but I still had time to dip my feet in the water at the first beach I saw. I did the same thing in 2019, at the same beach. I also stopped to buy pineapples, bananas and a mango at the first fruit stand I saw. Again, I stopped at the same place five years ago.

While waiting for my bag at the airport, I talked to Isaac Jack’s mom Anna, who I had met once before. She said she enjoyed Tom Archdeacon’s column on Isaac and his new tattoo. I told her Arch started licking his lips the second he saw that tattoo. That’s one of his signature ways of telling a person’s story.

The Jacks, who are from Port Alberni, B.C., had a shorter trip to Maui than people from Ohio. Even Vancouver is a hike from Maui, though. I spent about four or five hours looking out the window on the flight here and saw nothing but ocean until we hit the Maui coastline.

The Flyers practiced at the Lahaina Civic Center earlier today. Larry Hansgen, the voice of the Flyers, took a photo of a photo of Obi Toppin outside the arena. Toppin would have been the MVP of the tournament in 2019 if Dayton had beaten Kansas.

Hansgen also shared a photo of Brady Uhl and Jack coming back from the pool, so it hasn’t been all work and no play for the Flyers since they arrived on Friday.