Washington Husky men heading to Maui Invitational in 2026
Washington men’s coach Danny Sprinkle calls a play during a game against the Oregon last season. (Nick Wagner / The Seattle Times)
By Percy Allen Seattle Times staff reporter
The Huskies are headed to Hawaii next year.
For the first time since 2010, the Washington men’s basketball team will return to the Maui Invitational in 2026.
Washington will be joined by Arizona, BYU, Clemson, Colorado State, Ole Miss, Providence and VCU.
Brackets will be announced at a later date, but UW could potentially face former Pac-12 rival Arizona at the prestigious holiday tournament that’s held Nov. 23-25 at the historic Lahaina Civic Center.
The trip to Maui is also a homecoming of sorts for Husky standout freshman guard J.J. Mandaquit, who is a native of Hilo, Hawaii.
In their only other Maui Invitational appearance, the Huskies beat Virginia 106-63 before losing 74-67 to No. 8-ranked Kentucky in the semifinals and falling 76-71 to No. 2-ranked Michigan State in a consolation game.
This season, Washington will participate at the Acrisure Holiday Classic in Palm Desert, Calif., for the second straight year. UW plays Nevada on Nov. 27 and will face either Colorado or San Francisco the next day.
Percy Allen: pallen@seattletimes .com. Percy Allen is a sports reporter for The Seattle Times, where he writes about the University of Washington Huskies men’s and women’s basketball teams and the Seattle Storm.