Maui Invitational will help 'establish more credibility and consistency'

The EA SPORTS Maui Invitational held its Sunday Morning Coaches Press Conference prior to the official tip off on Monday.

"We’re very excited to be here," BYU Cougars head coach Dave Rose said.

The five seniors on the team have been looking forward to the event, and Rose said the tournament was brought up while recruiting his freshmen "quite a few times in that process."

Rose said the Maui Invitational is "helping us with our program and being able to establish more credibility and consistency with our group."

The Cougars were able to fly in early and have some fun as well. 

"We took our guys snorkeling one day on Friday. We had quite a few of our players who had never been through that experience, so … a couple of those guys coming up choking the first two or three times they went in. I'm sure our players will have fun with that the rest of the year," Rose said.

The team started off their tournament play during the pregame festivities.

"The party last night was terrific," Rose said. "I'm really proud of my guys for winning some type of championship. We won the bag throw championship, so we got off to a good start. But we look forward to the competition."

Ultimately, the Maui Invitational will be a learning experience for the team.

"The quality of players and the quality of coaches that are here will give us a really good starting point on Wednesday night when we fly home. We’ll know a lot about our team and we’re excited about that."

The BYU Cougars will face off against San Diego State University on Monday night.