Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic Moves To November; Expands With Women’s Tournament

ESPN Events announced that beginning in 2025 the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic will join Feast Week, ESPN’s week-long college basketball lineup of action in late November. The eight-team, three-day tournament will move to Thanksgiving week with the exact dates yet to be determined.

In addition, a women’s multi-team event (MTE) featuring the University of Hawai‘i will debut underneath the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic banner during Feast Week. The tournament format and exact dates for the women’s event will be announced in the future.

Since its inception in 2009, the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic has traditionally been played during the December holiday season, culminating with the final four contests on Christmas Day. Over the years the tournament has featured some of the best players and programs in college basketball with teams that have gone on to the NCAA Final Four and more than 70 players who have played in the NBA.

Previous Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic tournament champions include USC (2009, 2017), Butler (2010), Kansas State (2011), Arizona (2012), Iowa State (2013), George Washington (2014), Oklahoma (2015), San Diego State (2016), TCU (2018), Houston (2019), Vanderbilt (2021), Hawai‘i (2022) and Nevada (2023).

This year’s field includes Charlotte, College of Charleston, Loyola Chicago, Murray State, Nebraska, Oakland, Oregon State and tournament host Hawai’i. The tournament’s final four contests will air on ESPN’s family of networks on Christmas Day, concluding with the championship game at 3:30 p.m. HST on ESPN2.

 

ESPN Events 
ESPN Events, a division of ESPN, owns and operates a portfolio of collegiate sporting events nationwide. In 2024, the 34-event schedule includes four early-season college football kickoff games, 17 college bowl games, 10 college basketball events, the premiere regular season college softball and gymnastics events, as well as the Band of the Year National Championship. Collectively, these events account for over 400 hours of live programming on ESPN platforms, reaching 60 million viewers and attracting more than 650,000 annual attendees. Each year, the portfolio of events features more than 20 Division I conferences and hosts over 4,000 participating student-athletes. With satellite offices in more than 10 cities across the country, ESPN Events builds relationships with conferences, schools and local communities, as well as providing unique experiences for teams and fans. Follow ESPN Events on Facebook, Twitter/X and YouTube.

 

Hawaiian Airlines

Now in its 95th year of continuous service, Hawaiian is Hawaiʻi’s largest and longest-serving airline. Hawaiian offers approximately 150 daily flights within the Hawaiian Islands, and nonstop flights between Hawaiʻi and 16 U.S. gateway cities, as well as service connecting Honolulu and American Samoa, Australia, Cook Islands, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and Tahiti.

Consumer surveys by Condé Nast Traveler and TripAdvisor have placed Hawaiian among the top of all domestic airlines serving Hawaiʻi. The carrier was named Hawaiʻi’s best employer by Forbes in 2024 and has topped Travel + Leisure’s World’s Best list as the No. 1 U.S. airline for the past two years. Hawaiian has also led all U.S. carriers in on-time performance for 18 consecutive years (2004-2021) as reported by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The airline is committed to connecting people with aloha by offering complimentary meals for all guests on transpacific routes and the convenience of no change fees on Main Cabin and Premium Cabin seats. HawaiianMiles members also enjoy flexibility with miles that never expire. As Hawai‘i’s hometown airline, Hawaiian encourages guests to Travel Pono and experience the islands safely and respectfully.

Hawaiian Airlines, Inc. is a subsidiary of Alaska Air Group. (NYSE: ALK). Additional information is available at HawaiianAirlines.com. Follow Hawaiian’s Twitter updates (@HawaiianAir), become a fan on Facebook  (Hawaiian Airlines), and follow us on Instagram (hawaiianairlines). For career postings and updates, follow Hawaiian’s LinkedIn page.

For media inquiries, please visit Hawaiian Airlines’ online newsroom.

About the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority

The Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority is the state agency responsible for representing The Hawaiian Islands around the world, and for holistically managing tourism in a sustainable manner consistent with community desires, economic goals, cultural values, preservation of natural resources, and visitor industry needs. HTA works with the community and industry to Mālama Hawaiʻi – care for our beloved home. For more information about HTA, visit hawaiitourismauthority.org or follow @HawaiiHTA on Facebook, Instagram, Threads and Twitter.

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Media Contacts:

Neal Iwamoto at [email protected]

Danny Chi at [email protected]