Ohio State basketball likely to play in future Maui Invitational

Ohio State fans clamoring to see the men’s basketball team play in warmer climates appear to have another event to look to.

Tuesday, coach Chris Holtmann told reporters that in addition to next year’s agreement to participate in the Battle 4 Atlantis event in the Bahamas, a trip to the Maui Invitational is on the horizon.

“We have a tentative agreement, I think we have an agreement with Maui in the future,” Holtmann said. “There’s some things that we have coming up every year that will take us away for 4-5 days and we’ll play against good competition.”

The Buckeyes have never played in the Battle 4 Atlantis, which has taken place during Thanksgiving week annually since 2001. They last played in the Maui Invitational during the 2003-04 season under coach Jim O’Brien, where they lost to San Diego State and Central Michigan before beating Villanova. That tournament dates back to 1984.

Next season, Ohio State will be part of a field that contains Creighton, Duke, Texas A&M, Utah, West Virginia and Wichita State.

It’s not known what year the Buckeyes will head to Maui, but a source has indicated to The Dispatch that they will participate in a holiday tournament somewhere in Florida during the 2021-22 season. During Holtmann’s first season, Ohio State played in the PK80 Invitational in Portland, Oregon, an event the university was aligned with before he was hired.

“I do like them,” Holtmann said of such events. “Here, it’s also not a bad thing because football here in the fall, right, it controls a lot of things. It’s not a bad idea to take your team away for 4-5 days or a week and play neutral games in settings like that. We’ve got the Battle 4 Atlantis coming.”

ajardy@dispatch.com

@AdamJardy

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