Ticket-and-hotel packages started at $3,248 for four nights and tickets for two people.

No question the Maui Invitational is one of college basketball's showcase events, with perennially strong fields and a hillside location just steps from the ocean, located between Lahaina town and the Kaanapali resorts.

But the event also carries a different, more exclusive feel than your typical on-campus game thanks to the economic barriers involved.

General admission ticket packages will go on sale via mauiinvational.com Wednesday at 1 p.m. for $469 total ($156 per game), guaranteeing general admission tickets for all three of a selected team's game in the section behind that team's bench. The reserved and GA sections for Duke, Gonzaga and Illinois are already sold out, as are UA's reserved seats, but Arizona's allotted GA seats are still available.

Those prices come on top of local hotel or condo prices of at least $200 (counting fees and taxes) per night, ground transportation and Thanksgiving-week airfares from Tucson that are now around $1,000 and up (though Phoenix can be roughly $200 less).

That means it's easy to top $3,000 total per person for just four or five days.

Ticket-and-hotel packages are already sold out, but started at $3,248 for four nights and tickets for two people. The event also offers a pre-tournament dinner with the coaches for $178 and three days of hospitality room access for $335.

While the single-game tickets that go on sale Nov. 16 are cheaper, they started last year at $35 for consolation games and were $105 for the semifinal and final games.


While giving Justin Gainey and Danny Peters guaranteed two-year deals to come to Arizona, the school also inserted some language not seen before in assistant coaching contracts.

Both new coaches had to initial paragraphs saying they would only be paid to the date of termination if fired for cause and that they would be paid to the end of their contracts (April 2020) if fired without cause. They also had to initial paragraphs saying they'd have to pay $50,000 if they leave voluntarily and agree to quit before starting another job, with no benefits or salary paid after they quit.

Gainey will be paid $290,000 annually and Peters $275,000. Of the two departed assistants from last season, Lorenzo Romar made $400,000 and Book Richardson $250,000.

The move probably made sense for all sides involved: Gainey and Peters gained competitive salaries and extra security in exchange for leaving their old jobs, while Sean Miller gained two assistants he is familiar with and speaks highly of.


Sounds like Brandon Williams is looking forward to facing friend (and former fellow UA commit) Shareef O'Neal when Arizona and UCLA get together next season.



Become a #ThisIsTucson member! Your contribution helps our team bring you stories that keep you connected to the community. Become a member today.

Contact sports reporter Bruce Pascoe at 573-4146 or bpascoe@tucson.com. On Twitter @brucepascoe