Maui Invitational director, a Memphis native, talks Tigers
In this 2022, Nelson Taylor (third from left, back row) stands with members of the KemperSports LIVE team. Back row: Rob Christenson, Eric Nanninga, Nelson Taylor, Curtis Selzer. Front row: Annie Gregory, Taryn Petric, Alexis McKay, Jillian Dowden, Audrey Wayne, Krystal Jara, Ashley Walker. (Courtesy Brian Spurlock)
LAHAINA, Hawaii — Nelson Taylor rummaged through the storage closet inside his parents’ Memphis-area home this fall when he stumbled upon pieces of memorabilia that brought memories rushing back.
What Taylor, a Memphis native who’s now in his sixth year as the director for the annual Maui Invitational, uncovered were giant penny-shaped signs featuring a side profile of Memphis Tigers coach Penny Hardaway from his time as a player at then-Memphis State. The signs read “Player of the Year Candidate” and were given out to fans by the school during the 1992-93 season when Hardaway enjoyed an All-American campaign and was on the shortlist to win National Player of the Year in his final year with the Tigers.
For Taylor, they offered a flashback to his days watching his hometown team play in The Pyramid as a child. They reminded him how special it will be when the Tigers, now led by Hardaway — the co-MVP of the 1992 Maui Invitational — from the sidelines for the seventh season, take the court inside Hawaii’s Lahaina Civic Center to open the 40th annual Maui Invitational against No. 2 UConn on Monday, Nov. 25, (1:30 CST, ESPN2).
“It’s a great feeling for me,” said Taylor, who attended Clemson as an undergrad but has a father who’s a Memphis State graduate. “I’ve got family ties throughout Memphis — still have family living there. I’ve got family that still has a tailgate spot on Tiger Lane. And so to bring everything back to the Tigers being in Maui, it’s fun for me to see.”
This year marks Memphis’ sixth all-time appearance in the Maui Invitational and first since 2011 — and, of course, the first in Taylor’s tenure as the Thanksgiving Week tournament’s director.
Taylor recently spoke with The Daily Memphian about the process of selecting the Maui Invitational field and why Memphis was chosen, the significance of the tournament returning to the Lahaina Civic Center after being played in Honolulu last year following destruction to Maui from wind-driven wildfires in August 2023 and more.
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Memphis Tigers Basketball 2024 Maui Invitational Subscriber Only Nelson Taylor Maui Invitational directorAre you enjoying your subscription?
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Parth Upadhyaya
Parth Upadhyaya covers the Memphis Tigers men’s basketball team. A Raleigh, N.C., native and a graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill’s Hussman School of Media and Journalism, Upadhyaya is a longtime college hoops junkie. Prior to joining The Daily Memphian in 2022, he covered high school sports in western Pennsylvania for the Beaver County Times and Penn State football for the Centre Daily Times.
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