KSR Today: La Familia vs. Herd That in TBT; Kentucky Basketball interviews

For a Tuesday in late July, we sure have a lot of Kentucky Basketball to talk about. Tonight, the former Cats on La Familia take on Herd That at Rupp Arena for a spot in The Basketball Tournament quarterfinals. Before that, we’ll get to hear from some current Cats about Kentucky’s summer workouts. Add in some recruiting news and you’d never know it was the offseason.

Let’s start with TBT since it’s the talk of the Bluegrass.

No. 2 La Familia vs. No. 1 Herd That in TBT Sweet 16

La Familia won its first two TBT games in relatively dominant fashion, beating 305 Ballers by 26 points in the opener and The Nawf by 17 on Sunday. Tonight at 9 p.m. ET, they’ll face the No. 1 seed in the Lexington regional, Herd That, in the Sweet 16 at Rupp Arena.

The Marshall alumni team is a perennial TBT power, making it all the way to the semifinals last year. Herd That cruised in its first game, beating No. 8 seed Jackson TN Boom 92-57. On Sunday, they rallied to defeat No. 4 seed War Ready, an Auburn alumni team, 63-59. War Ready led Herd That by ten, 59-49, needing only four more points to reach the target score in the Elam Ending, but the Marshall alums came to life, ending the game on a 14-0 run to get the victory.

Let’s hope their magic runs out tonight vs. La Familia. Kerem Kanter, Enes Kanter’s little brother, has been a star, leading the team with 23.5 points per game, including the game-winner vs. The Nawf on Sunday. Enes was supposed to be at Rupp this past weekend to see Kerem play, but the CloudStrike outage prevented him from making it to Lexington. Hopefully, he can make it tonight to cheer Kerem on — and join him in another KSR Rapid Reaction?

La Familia is currently a 3.5-point favorite on FanDuel. The winner of this game will advance to the TBT quarterfinals, potentially vs. The Ville, Louisville’s alumni team. Kentucky being Kentucky, La Familia drew the late 9 p.m. ET tipoff. The game will be shown live on FS1, but you should buy a ticket and come to Rupp to cheer the former Cats on in person. As Drew Franklin wrote last night, you won’t regret it. Right, Eric Bledsoe?

Eric Bledsoe after the game:

“WE NEEDED THAT, WE NEED SOME MORE FANS THO”

Hey @KentuckyMBB fans… GET TO RUPP ON TUESDAY FOR @LaFamiliaTBT’s REGIONAL FINAL GAME!

Tickets: https://t.co/FCZCRpw540 pic.twitter.com/QAizWZPsQ6

— TBT (@thetournament) July 21, 2024

Seriously, let’s Pack Rupp.

Here is the updated TBT bracket for the Lexington and Louisville Regionals. The Ville held off Jack Gohlke and Sideline Cancer last night to advance to face Team DRC:

Three new Cats talk to the media

Thankfully, we’ve got some content to get us through a long day. This afternoon, Lamont Butler, Collin Chandler, and Brandon Garrison will meet with reporters to talk about Kentucky Basketball’s summer workouts and what it was like to scrimmage against La Familia last week. The current Cats have attended both of La Familia’s games thus far and will likely be back at Rupp tonight, continuing to bond that bridge, so to speak, between the John Calipari and Mark Pope eras.

We’ll have a ton of content from the conversations on the site and YouTube Channel today, so stay tuned.

ICYMI, Mark Pope hands out two more offers

We’ve talked about former Cats and current Cats. How about future Cats? Coming off the July evaluation period, Mark Pope handed out two scholarship offers on Monday.

The first was to 6-10 four-star power forward Miikka Muurinen, a rising star in the 2026 class. Muurinen is coming off a stellar showing in the Peach Jam, where he led Bradley Beal Elite 16U to the E16 Championship, averaging 17.8 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks in 22 minutes per game. Mark Pope and Jason Hart were in the stands to see Muurinen in the title game; clearly, he made an impression.

Muurinen is Kentucky’s second offer in the 2026 class, joining five-star small forward Tyran Stokes. He hasn’t scheduled a visit to Kentucky just yet but told Jacob Polacheck of KSR+ that he is intrigued by the Cats.

“They’ve reached out and I’ve talked with the coaching staff about my future and a future with Kentucky. They play good basketball. I like their campus, their coach, and everything.”

The second offer was to 2025 four-star guard Brayden Burries, the first player Kentucky assistants Cody Fueger and Jason Hart watched at the Peach Jam when the live period began on Friday. The 6’4″ 185 lbs. combo guard also told Polacheck he’s looking to visit Kentucky soon and commit sometime before January. He’s a consensus top 20 player in the 2025 class.

“Kentucky has been reaching out [about a visit],” Burries said. ‘I’m with my dad and we’re going to figure it out.”

Want more Kentucky basketball recruiting intel? Join KSR Plus for the most comprehensive coverage of the Cats on the internet. With a KSR membership, you get access to bonus content and KSBoard, KSR’s message board, to chat with fellow Cats fans and get exclusive scoop.

Team USA survived another scare

It was another tense afternoon for Team USA, which held off Germany to win its fifth and final exhibition before the Olympics on Monday. The 92-88 victory comes a few days after Team USA had to rally to beat South Sudan 101-100 on a game-winning layup by LeBron James.

James, who was named the United States’ flag bearer on Monday morning, was big again vs. Germany, taking control of the game in the fourth quarter, scoring Team USA’s final 11 points to ensure victory. Former Cats Devin Booker, Bam Adebayo, and Anthony Davis also had a hand in the win, with Davis adding 10 points and 7 rebounds despite being in foul trouble.

Team USA tips off Olympic play on Sunday. They’ve already defeated two of the three teams they’ll face in Group C, Serbia (led by three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic) and South Sudan (which features Wenyen Gabriel).

• July 28 vs. Serbia (11:15 AM EST, NBC)
• July 31 vs. South Sudan (3:00 PM EST, NBC)
• August 3 vs. Puerto Rico (11:15 AM EST, NBC)

Congrats to Derek Willis and Marcus Lee

Two former Cats celebrated some major life events this past weekend. Derek Willis and his wife Keely welcomed their first child, Wolf, to the world, while his former teammate Marcus Lee got married.

Mark Pope, who recently ran into Willis in Turkey, congratulated the couple on Twitter yesterday afternoon. Derek, Keely, and Wolf are now resting at their home in Turkey with their dog Piston.

Congrats to @KentuckyMBB alum Derek Willis and his wife, Keely, on the birth of their first child, Wolf. https://t.co/RVJP4yhSVI

— Mark Pope (@CoachMarkPope) July 22, 2024

Lee and his bride Amber tied the knot in Nashville in front of friends and family. Tod Lanter served as officiant.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Marcus Lee🎗 (@justmarcuslee)

SINGO & La Familia Watch Party at KSBar

It’s also a big Tuesday at KSBar and Grille. At 7 p.m., SINGO makes its triumphant return, the perfect way to pregame for the La Familia Watch Party at 9 p.m. Come on down for one or both to prove that Tuesday’s not the worst day of the week.