Maui Invitational: Everything that's right about college hoops

Basketball Times January 2009 by Marc Isenberg

This is my sixth article in Basketball Times. A few of my articles have been critical of various aspects of college athletics. But anyone who knows me knows I am passionate about basketball and, most important, the people who play the game. I love basketball — and most of the people associated with the game. At the same time, there are problems in college basketball that need to be addressed. That doesn’t make me cynical. Just informed. There is also a lot right, which I have no problem pointing out as well. At the top of my list is the Maui Invitational. In the last issue of Basketball Times, Jerry Tipton wrote about the glorious 25-year history of the pre-conference tournament. The article captured the essence of big-time basketball on a small island. Tipton’s article spoke to me. The exact words: “Marc, come to Hawaii and find out firsthand.” So I asked my wife, Debbie, if she would join me in my field research. Tough sell, right? So we jetted to Hawaii to attend the 2008 EA Sports Maui Invitational. Remember the old television show Fantasy Island, where people went to fulfill their dreams? Great basketball, the ocean, the sun and great people. Check, check, check. In my opinion, the Maui Invitational is the three best days of college basketball. No, it is not the NCAA Tournament, where the stakes are sky high and the pressure enormous. In Maui, the coaches are still intense, but the Hawaiian setting seems to take some of the edge off. The basketball is competitive, but it doesn’t feel like life and death. And the players are the happiest of all. Less screaming coaches and more hanging loose. I even saw one coach give the shaka sign, which is proof this is not basketball as usual. The Maui Invitational approach got me thinking. What lessons from this tournament could be applied to improve college basketball?

Players first: The NCAA mantra is “student-athletes first,” although that is not always the case. College athletics should exist for the benefit of student athletes. Many criticize college basketball players for being too coddled. My response: They deserve “special treatment” for all the hard work and sacrifices they make for the benefit of college basketball and athletes in other sports as well as coaches and administrators who benefit directly from the revenue these amateurs help generate. What I love about the Maui Invitational is that it is the ultimate players’ tournament. Kemper Sports, the tournament organizers, and its incredible staff and Maui local volunteers treat the players (and everyone else) in first-class fashion. 

The Maui Invitational officially kicked off with the Xbox Players Party, highlighted by the EA Sports “NCAA Basketball 2009” videogame tournament. Each team had two players participate in a bracket-style tourney. To me, watching unidentified virtual college players is uninteresting. The best part was observing the real college players interact. There was trash-talk and serious competition. Who won? UNC’s Mike Copeland, a senior forward out with an ACL injury, defeated teammate Ty Lawson in the championship game. Roy Williams was unimpressed, stating, “Mike Copeland should have won the thing. He had ACL surgery and hasn’t practiced one day, so he’s got to be doing something. It sort of bothers me, because the guy he beat was Ty Lawson, and he’s supposed to be practicing basketball.” Anyone who has seen Lawson play this season knows he is getting it done with more than his thumb.

No school, no problem: It is important to note that the players, who do double-duty as students, are on Thanksgiving break during the Maui Invitational. Just basketball, fun and sun.

USA Today recently ran an article critical of athletic departments whose athletes “cluster” in certain majors considered less challenging. I certainly prefer athletes to choose rigorous majors rather than “major in eligibility.” But let’s be realistic. While there are players who enter college both prepared and motivated to compete academically, many are not. Then add the time required to be a D-I basketball player, which is more than a full-time job despite the absurd “20-hour rule” that caps the time coaches can require from their players. Time beyond that is on a voluntary basis. Wouldn’t it be fun to be a fly on the wall if a player ever invoked that rule?

College athletes should balance athletics and academics, but as the number of games played creeps to 40, something has to give and it’s usually not basketball.

In the final analysis, college basketball players would be better served if we actually gave them a fighting chance to compete academically. The Big If: If athletic departments could make decisions in the best interest of the basketball players, rather than to accommodate the television networks.

Back to Fantasy Island. Fewer midweek games. Definitely no games starting at 9 p.m. on school nights. Let’s turn college basketball into a mostly one-semester sport. Help players load up on class work when they are not in-season, then reduce the number of required course hours during the heart of the season, when we’re jetting them all over the country. Most programs are already requiring players to stick around during the summer to work out and attend school, so why not ease up on the academics during the second semester? Maybe allow teams to play a few Saturday night games during the first semester, but the focus should be on keeping players, especially freshmen, in the classroom. Teams could play the same number of games, with the season extended a few weeks. March Madness would give way to April sanity.

On a related topic, Rick Telander, one of my favorite sportswriters, recently called me to ask my opinion on ESPN. It is the evil empire, right? I defend ESPN for what it does. It is owned by Disney, a public company whose responsibility is to its shareholders, not to athletic departments or student athletes. The NCAA and its members, in fact, are the ones charged with protecting amateur athletes. 

Television networks offer what they believe an event is worth, and the rights’ holders are free to accept or reject the terms. If it is wrong to schedule 9 p.m. start times, then those empowered to serve college athletes should resist the money. Easier said than done.

It’s time to leave fantasy island, I suppose. But I will be still dreaming about next season’s Maui Invitational and a more perfect basketball world.