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Kentucky

La Familia officially announces roster for TBT 2025

On3 imageby: Sam Gillenwater07/15/25samdg_33
La Familia (82-56 win over 305 Ballers on Friday, July 19, 2024 in Lexington, Ky. at Rupp Arena in the TBT)
Clare Grant | Courier Journal | USA TODAY NETWORK

The latest edition of the TBT will be opening play this weekend with the first games set to tip around the country on Friday. That includes in Lexington, Kentucky where La Familia, the alumni team of the Kentucky Wildcats, will return to the bluegrass for their second season in the event.

La Familia has officially announced their final roster for this year’s tournament going into their games in the Lexington Regional at Historic Memorial Coliseum on Friday and, if they advance, on Sunday and Tuesday. It’s an eleven-man roster with eight being former players who have appeared over the past seventeen seasons at UK.

The Harrison twins, Cauley-Stein, and Kanter are the only returning players from last season’s roster that reached the semifinals of the TBT before losing to Carmen’s Crew (Ohio State), who went on to win the championship, in Philadelphia. The trio of former players are most known for their roles from 2013 to 2015 when the program made back-to-back appearances in the Final Four, including a title appearances in 2014 and being parts of the 38-1 team in 2015. Last year, Kanter (18.4 ppg. (62.5% FG), 9.0 rpg.) made the TBT All-Tournament Team while Cauley-Stein (10.2 ppg. (70.4% FG), 6.6 rpg., 2.8 blocks, 1.0 steals) was named as Defensive Player of the Year. Eric Bledsoe, Nate Sestina, James Young, Kellan Grady, Brennan Canada, and Daniel Orton then did not return to this season’s roster.

Almonor, Goodwin, Liggins, Lamb, and Whitney are then the five new additions to La Familia who are former Wildcats. Lamb is the most notable having been part of the school’s last national title team in 2012. Almonor is also of note as the one member from the new tenure having played in 36 games, averaging 5.3 points (50.4% FG, 42.4% 3PT on 1.1 makes) and 1.6 rebounds, just last season in the first team under Mark Pope.

The remaining trio then have connections to the program, the city, or the state of Kentucky. Kanter is the brother of Enes Kanter (2010-2011), Burns spent two years of his five-year collegiate career at Murray State, and Warrick is a Lexington native who played at Henry Clay before going an hour and a half north to play four of his five years in college at NKU in Highland Heights.

La Familia then has alumni coaching and running it as well. Sean Woods, who played three seasons from 1989-1992 with fourteen years of head coaching experience at Mississippi Valley State, Morehead State, and Southern, is their head coach while Wayne Turner, who won two national titles at the school over four years there from 1995-1999, is an assistant. Twany Beckham, a Louisville native who spent two seasons at Kentucky in 2011 and on the title team in 2012, is then their general manager who was also named All-Tournament for his work for the event in 2024.

La Familia will open up on Friday night against Stroh’s  Squad (Bowling Green) at 9 p.m. EST on FS1. Other alumni teams they could come across in their eight-team region would be those of Auburn and Louisiana Tech. If they advance past Friday, the Wildcats would play at 2:30 p.m. EST on Sunday (FOX) and 6 p.m. EST on Tuesday (FS2). Then, if they move on past the Lexington Regional, La Familia would play the winner of the Louisville Regional, with the biggest storyline being a potential rematch with The ‘Ville (Louisville) in the quarterfinals.

This was a big success and storyline last season for those wanting basketball in the summer time in the bluegrass. Now, they’ll again get to reconnect with some of their favorites from the program as La Familia tries to win it all in their second year as part of the TBT.