The tournament had its roots in a
game that is considered one of the greatest upsets in college history. On December 23, 1982 the top-ranked and undefeated
University of Virginia made a scheduled trip to Honolulu for a game. Originally seeking to play the
University of Hawaii, Virginia agreed to play
Chaminade, which at the time belonged to the
NAIA, on the trip instead. In a game that was not televised and covered by only one sportswriter from outside the local media (
Michael Wilbon of
The Washington Post, who was in Honolulu to cover the
University of Maryland's performance in the inaugural
Aloha Bowl), Chaminade defeated the
Ralph Sampson-led Virginia squad 77–72 in front of 3,300 spectators at the
Neal S. Blaisdell Center. Shortly after the upset, Virginia head coach
Terry Holland congratulated Chaminade's
athletic director,
Mike Vasconcellos, and suggested to him that he consider beginning a Hawaii tournament. Two years later, the
Maui Classic was inaugurated with Chaminade reaching the final and losing to
Providence. Beginning in 2018 and continuing with every even-numbered year, Chaminade will play games on the mainland, and eight Division I schools will compete in the championship bracket on Maui. In odd-numbered years, Chaminade will compete in the championship bracket. Due to
COVID-19 issues, the 2020 and 2021 tournaments were both moved to the US mainland. The 2020 event was held at
Harrah's Cherokee Center in
Asheville, North Carolina, while the 2021 event was held at
Michelob Ultra Arena on the
Las Vegas Strip. Due to
the city nearly being destroyed by a fire, it was announced on September 15, 2023 that the tournament games would be relocated to the island of
O'ahu and be played at the
Stan Sheriff Center on the campus of the
University of Hawai‘i from Nov. 20 to 22. The tournament returned to Maui in 2024. ==Effect on local economy==