PREVIEW: La Familia begins TBT run tonight in Rupp Arena against 305 Ballers

Gameday has finally arrived. La Familia, a team made up almost entirely of former Kentucky Wildcats, will take the Rupp Arena floor once again later tonight in The Basketball Tournament opener. For some, this is their first time back in Lexington in over a decade since their college days at UK. From the coaching staff to the end of the bench, there is a connection linking together the past 15 years (and even beyond) of Kentucky hoops.

We’ve been talking nonstop about The Basketball Tournament (and its famous Elam Ending) over the last couple of weeks, and now it’s here. La Familia will open up the winner-takes-all, $1 million grand prize event this evening inside Rupp at 8:00 p.m. EST on FS2. Tickets are still available and are going for under $20 a pop. Click here to grab yours now if you haven’t already. A portion of ticket sales will go towards Kentucky’s NIL efforts. Games will also be livestreamed (for FREE) here.

Below is the entire La Familia roster along with the coaching staff. Only Kerem Kanter, the younger brother of former Wildcat Enes Kanter, did not play at UK. However, Enes is expected to be at Rupp on Sunday if La Familia wins tonight.

PLAYERS

• Eric Bledsoe (2009-10)
• Daniel Orton (2009-10)
• Willie Cauley-Stein (2012-15)
• James Young (2013-14)
• Aaron Harrison (2013-15)
• Andrew Harrison (2013-15)
• Nate Sestina (2019-20)
• Brennan Canada (2019-24)
• Kellan Grady (2021-22)
• Kerem Kanter (Green Bay/Xavier, 2014-18)

STAFF

• Tyler Ulis (2014-16, head coach)
• Jon Hood (2009-14, assistant coach)
• Sean Woods (1988-92, assistant coach)
• Twany Beckham (2008-13, general manager)
• Sam Malone (2011-15, general manager)

The opponent for tonight? The 305 Ballers (formerly Athletics Miami), a Miami-based pro training facility that has already participated in TBT twice before (0-2). La Familia enters as the two-seed in the Lexington Regional while the 305 Ballers check in as the seven-seed. Herd That, a Marshall alumni team, understandably holds the one-seed in this region. Herd That is 8-4 all-time in this event and made it to the TBT semifinals in 2023.

Expect Sestina and Bledsoe to provide the bulk of the scoring for La Familia with Grady and Aaron Harrison pitching in from deep. Cauley-Stein and Kanter will round out the frontcourt while Young and Andrew Harrison should bring plenty of juice to the backcourt. Orton and Canada will provide relief off the bench.

La Familia is an 11.5-point favorite over on FanDuel to win tonight (yes, you can bet on this).

Let’s quickly take a glance at the Lexington Regional and La Familia’s path to the quarterfinals. If everything goes as planned, La Familia could match up against Louisville’s alumni team, The Ville, in the quarterfinals. If that ends up being the case, the host site for that game will go to the team with more ticket sales throughout the first three contests.

Again, if you haven’t purchased your tickets, scroll up and hit that link.

So, what should we expect to see out of the 305 Ballers? Even those who have followed college basketball closer than most over the last decade might struggle to notice some of the names on this roster, but that certainly doesn’t mean they aren’t talented. Remember, the vast majority of guys participating in TBT are playing basketball professionally in some capacity, whether that be overseas, or the G League, or somewhere in between.

Let’s outline the 305 Ballers’ roster and see what they’ll bring to the hardwood:

• Aleu Aleu (6-9 wing | UTSA)
• Alexander Kappos (6-10, forward | Dalhousie University)
• Anthony Dambo (6-2 guard)
• Anthony Fairley (6-8 forward | Miles College)
• CJ Bryce (6-5 point guard | NC State)
• Harrison Henderson (6-10 forward | Central Michigan)
• Isaiah Reese (6-3 point guard | Canisius)
• Kevin Tumba (6-9 center)
• Marcale Lotts (6-8 forward | Canisius)
• Shane Hunter (6-10 forward | Nova Southeastern)
• Sherif Gross-Bullock (6-5 guard | Bryant)
• Victor Uyaelunmo (6-11 forward | Towson)

Off the bat, several names stick out. CJ Bryce and Victor Uyaelunmo both played high-major college basketball. Bryce started his career at UNC Wilmington (2015-17) before transferring to NC State for his final two seasons (2018-20). As a senior in 2019-20, Bryce averaged a team-high 13.3 points along with 6.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. As for Uyaelunmo, he played sparingly through two seasons at Southern California (2017-19) and barely saw the floor in his final year with Towson (2020-21).

Harrison Henderson was a legit college journeyman, spending six seasons in college with Southern California (206-17), Milwaukee (2018-20), Southern (2020-21), and finally Central Michigan (2021-22). It was his final season where he made a significant impact, averaging 11.1 points and 4.8 rebounds per game for CMU.

Aleu Aleu is recently out of college after two seasons with UTSA (2021-23) where he averaged 3.1 points and 2.2 rebounds per game. A pair of Canisius players, Isaiah Reese (2016-19) and Marcale Lotts (2017-19), made impacts during their college runs, one more than the other. Reese was All-MAAC in 2017-18 (16.9 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 4.7 APG, 2.2 SPG) as a sophomore while Lotts was a bench player during his two seasons.

Sherif Gross-Bullock will be the name to watch for. Fresh out of college, he spent three seasons at La Salle (2019-22) before finishing up at Bryant (2022-24). He was named All-AEC both seasons at Bryant, averaging 17.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game.

Anthony Fairley spent time at Alcorn State (2019-21) and Miles College (2021-22) before heading overseas. Anthony Dambo, Kevin Tumba, and Alexander Kappos also play overseas. Shane Hunter just wrapped up his college career this past season with Nova Southeastern and was the only player to start all 35 games in 2023-24.

To recap, the 305 Ballers have plenty of talent to compete in this tournament. Gross-Bullock and Reese will be players to keep a close eye on for La Familia. Harrison and Bryce will also bring plenty of production. All that being said, La Familia still has more overall talent. But talent doesn’t always win out in this event — there has to be a good level of cohesion and team chemistry to make a deep run.

La Familia has spent the week practicing in preparation for TBT, even taking on Mark Pope‘s current Kentucky squad on Wednesday in a 5-on-5, fullcourt practice session. A few of them have experience playing together at UK, although that was years ago at this point. Even still, they should be more than ready to play in front of the Big Blue Nation later tonight and advance to Sunday’s second round.

To learn more about TBT, La Familia, and the Elam Ending, make sure to watch the video below. The roster has changed since the video was uploaded, but we break down how the tournament is set up and what’s at stake. Let’s have some fun and we’ll see you tonight at Rupp.

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