Since 1984, some of the nation’s best college basketball programs have traveled to the beautiful island paradise of Maui, Hawaii, every year to take part in the Maui Invitational. But even before the tournament began, Hawaii had made its place in college basketball lore.
Two years prior, in 1982, one of the craziest occurrences in all of sports took place in the Lahaina Civic Center. The host school, Chaminade University of Honolulu — then of the NAIA — upset No. 1-ranked Virginia in one of the largest underdog wins of all time. After the victory brought attention to the school, the tournament was born.
Now, 30 years later, Chaminade has pulled off another upset. In the first round of this year’s tournament, the now-Division II Silverswords upset Big 12 powerhouse Texas, rekindling memories of the monumental upset decades ago. After trailing early, Chaminade caught fire and opened a lead as large as 18 points over the Longhorns to advance to the second round of the tournament.
Senior Deandre Haskins led the host institution with 32 points. Next up is either USC or Illinois in the semifinals.The Silverswords have never won their own tournament, finishing second in the inaugural version in 1984 to Providence.
While it’s not the same magnitude of the original upset, a Division II school beating a proud institution like Texas doesn’t happen often.
