College hoops Thanksgiving tournaments are a favorite part of the sport.

Leah Miller-Tooley answered the phone to welcome the Baylor women’s basketball team to the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas, where 80-degree temperatures made it easy for the Bears to settle into Paradise Island a week before Thanksgiving.

About 5,000 miles east of the Caribbean country, similar conditions awaited the men’s team at the Maui Invitational in Hawaii. They are often greeted with a lei, a traditional Hawaiian greeting of friendship.

College basketball teams and fans alike look forward to this time of year. The holiday week’s tournaments certainly feature high-profile matches and all-day television coverage, but there is something familiar about them as they help ward off the November chill. Over four decades, these basketball-filled sandy beach destinations have become a beloved mainstay of the sport itself.

“When you see College Basketball Holiday Week on TV on ESPN, when you see Battle 4 Atlantis on TV, you know college basketball is coming back,” he said. Miller-Tooleyfounder and organizer of men’s and women’s Battle 4 Atlantis tournaments. “Because this is a busy time of year with the NFL, college football and the NBA. But when you see these great events in these beautiful places, you realize, “Wow, hoops are back, let’s enjoy it.”

MTE Madness

The Great Alaska Shootout was a trend-setting multi-team event (MTE) nearly five decades ago. The brainchild of late Alaska-Anchorage coach Bob Rachal sought to raise his program’s profile by attracting national power programs that could take advantage of NCAA rules allowing them to exceed the regular-season game limit if they played a three-game set. tournament outside the contiguous 48 states.

In the first tournament, called the Sea Wolf Classic, on November 26, 1978, North Carolina State beat Louisville 72–66.

The Maui Invitational followed in November 1984, fueled by the excitement surrounding the NAIA Chaminade program, which two years earlier had upset top-ranked Virginia and 7-foot-4 star Ralph Sampson in Hawaii.

Events continued to happen and warm weather regions came into action. Paradise jam in the US Virgin Islands. Cancun Challenge in Mexico. A Cayman Islands classic. Jamaican classic. The Myrtle Beach Invitational will join the Charleston Classic in South Carolina. Numerous tournaments in Florida.

Some events have disappeared, such as Tipoff in Puerto Rico and the Great Alaska Shootout. last one in 2017 amid competitions and schools choosing warm-weather locations.

Atlantis rises

Miller-Tooley’s quest to build an MTE for Atlantis began with a doubleheader in December 2010, when Georgia Tech beat Richmond and Virginia Tech defeated Mississippi State in a moment of proof of the tournament’s viability. It also required NCAA legislation to be changed to allow MTE in the Bahamas. Approval came in March 2011; The first eight-team Atlantis men’s tournament followed in November.

This tournament quickly rose to pre-eminent status with high-profile fields and Atlantean champions. Villanova (2017) And Virginia (2018) later winning the NCAA title that season. The games are on ballroom converted into arena at the resort, where players also visit the huge swimming pools, water slides And in-line thresholds surrounded by palm trees and the Atlantic Ocean.

“It’s just the value of a passport stamp that never gets old,” Miller-Tooley said. “Watching some of these kids, I realize this may be their first and last time—both staff and families—ever traveling outside the United States. … You can see through the eyes of these kids that this is truly an incredible experience.”

ACC Network analyst Luke Hancock knows this first-hand. His Louisville team finished second at Atlantis in 2012 and won the vacated NCAA title that year, and Hancock was the Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player.

“I remember (then-coach Rick Pitino) saying something like, ‘Some of you guys may never get this opportunity again. We live in this incredible place and you do it with people you love,” Hancock said.

“It was a Thanksgiving business trip for us, but it definitely had the tone of, ‘We should enjoy this too.’

Popular demand

Maui offers a similar atmosphere, although 2024 could be a little different once Lahaina recovers. from the deadly 2023 wildfires this forced the event to be postponed last year.

North Carolina assistant coach Sean May played for the winning Tar Heels in Maui in 2004 and was on UNC’s 2016 championship team, with both teams later winning the NCAA title. May said “you just feel the peace” of the area – even when focusing on the games – and savors the memories of the team taking the boat out on the Pacific Ocean after winning the title under now-retired Hall of Famer Roy Williams .

“Teams like us, the Dukes, UConn, they want to go to places that are very well run,” May said. “Maui, Leah Miller and her group at Battle 4 Atlantis are what keep teams coming back because you know you’re going to get the standard quality of not only the preparation, but the tournament itself and the execution of it. Everything is top notch. And I think that brings guys back year after year.”

That’s why Colorado coach Tad Boyle is so excited about the Buffaloes’ first appearance in Maui since 2009.

“We’ve been trying to get to the tournament since I got here,” said Boyle, who is now in his 15th season.

And, of course, warm weather certainly won’t hurt.

“When you talk about the Marquettes of the world, St. John’s and Providence, they don’t need that cold weather,” said NBA and college television analyst Terrence Oglesby, who played for Clemson in the 2007 San Juan Invitational in Puerto Rico. “They’re going to have to deal with this all through January and February. You might as well taste the sun.”

Busy schedule

The Baha Mar Men’s Championships in Nassau, Bahamas, began to take off last week. No. 11 Tennessee Route 13 Baylor for the title. The coming week boasts Final Four-worthy matchups, with teams facing two weeks of action after any opening night hiccups.

“This is a special start to the college basketball season,” Oglesby said. “Only without rust.”

As for women, Atlantis began its activities. fourth eight-team women’s tournament No. 16 North Carolina and No. 18 Baylor play Saturday, and neighboring Baha Mar follows with two four-team women’s brackets that include No. 2 UConn, No. 7 LSU, No. 17 Mississippi and No. 20 NC State .

Then there are the men’s headliners.

Maui Invitational turns 40, opens Monday back in Lahaina. It features the second and two-time defending national champion. University of California, ConnecticutNo. 4 AuburnNo. 5 Iowa and No. 10 in North Carolina.

Battle 4 Atlantis opens its 13th men’s tournament on Wednesday, led by No. 3 Gonzaga, No. 16 Indiana and No. 17 Arizona.

Michigan Hall of Famer Tom Izzo is making his fourth trip to Maui, where he debuted as Jude Heathcote’s successor in the 1995 tournament. Izzo’s Spartans competed twice in Atlantis. last one in 2021.

“They’re important because they give you something exciting in November or December,” Izzo said.

Are there any disadvantages?

“It’s a 10-hour flight,” he said of Hawaii.

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AP Sports Writers Pat Graham in Colorado and Larry Lage in Michigan contributed to this report.

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