Since 2009, Hawaii has hosted the Diamond Head Classic, an eight-team college basketball tournament that runs during the week of Christmas. But in 2025, that event will not take place.
The news was announced in a pop-up on the Diamond Head Classic portion of the ESPN Events page.
The Diamond Head Classic, a college basketball tournament which began in 2009 and is played during the week of Christmas (finishing on Christmas Day), will not be played in 2025.
This was a pop-up on the ESPN Events page. pic.twitter.com/leixAgycdS
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 26, 2025
ESPN also issued a statement on the decision, which left the door open for a potential return of the Diamond Head Classic in 2026.
“ESPN Events is committed to creating quality event experiences in Hawaii and we are proud of our longstanding history running the Diamond Head Classic, the statement said, H/T Jeremiah Estrada, KITV.com “While we will miss hosting the Diamond Head this year, we continue to evaluate future opportunities with local stakeholders, partners and the University of Hawaii.”
Before the 2025 event was canceled, it had already been moved on the calendar from the week of Christmas to the week of Thanksgiving. It had previously been announced that BYU, with star recruit AJ Dybantsa, would participate in 2025’s event.
Source: BYU and five-star prospect AJ Dybantsa — the top ranked player in the 2025 class — will participate in the 2025 Diamond Head Classic during Thanksgiving Week.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) February 6, 2025
With the exception of 2020, the event was held every year between 2009 and 2024, though 2021’s final between Stanford and Vanderbilt was canceled due to the Stanford team dealing with COVID. Nebraska won in 2024, defeating Oregon State 78-66 in the final. To date, USC is the only two-time winner, winning the inaugural event in 2009 and taking the title again in 2017.
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