TBT Lexington Regional bracket revealed, new roster addition to La Familia on the way

The Kentucky alumni team in this year’s edition of The Basketball Tournament, La Familia, has learned its path to winning the winner-takes-all $1 million grand prize.

The entire bracket was revealed on Wednesday morning, with La Familia — led by General Manager and former Kentucky guard Twany Beckham — hosting a small media gathering to unveil the Lexington Regional, one of eight regions in the 64-team bracket. The roster of former Wildcats (which we’ll touch on more in a moment) will return to play in Rupp Arena with a first-round matchup against the 305 Ballers.

La Familia (the 2-seed in the Lexington Regional) and the 305 Ballers (7-seed) will go head-to-head on Friday, July 19 inside Rupp. Tipoff is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. EST and all games will be streamed live on FOX Sports and through TBT’s website, which you can find here. Herd That, a Marshall alumni team with a strong track record in this event, earned the Lexington Regional’s top overall seed.

The entire TBT bracket can be found here. Below are the teams featured in the Lexington Regional along with the eight-team bracket. If La Familia were to advance out of the Lexington Regional, they could go up against Louisville’s alumni team, The Ville, in the quarterfinals as winners of the Louisville Regional.

• 1-seed: Herd That (Marshall alumni)
• 2-seed: La Familia (Kentucky alumni)
• 3-seed: WoCo Showtime (Wofford alumni)
• 4-seed: War Ready (Auburn alumni)
• 5-seed: D2 Waymakers
• 6-seed: The Nawf
• 7-seed: 305 Ballers
• 8-seed: Jackson TN Boom

La Familia is currently comprised of 10 former Kentucky players from the John Calipari era. Tyler Ulis is taking over as head coach with Sean Woods and Jon Hood serving as his assistants. Sam Malone has been named Beckham’s Assistant GM while Darius Miller is assuming the role of Director of Player Development. Jazzmar Ferguson (assistant coach), Brittany Harris (PR & Marketing Director) and Shandale Walton (Player Development) round out the staff.

Here is how the roster looks less than a month out from the opener:

• Eric Bledsoe (2009-10)
• Daniel Orton (2009-10)
• Doron Lamb (2010-12)
• Marquis Teague (2011-12)
• Willie Cauley-Stein (2012-15)
• James Young (2013-14)
• Andrew Harrison (2013-15)
• Reid Travis (2018-19)
• Nate Sestina (2019-20)
• Kellan Grady (2021-22)

Nine of the 10 fully expect to suit up, but Lamb has been listed as to be determined as he is currently playing basketball overseas.

Additionally, during Wednesday’s press conference, Beckham teased another addition to the roster, which he expects to be announced sometime next week. He did not reveal a name but mentioned that this individual hit plenty of big-time shots during his time at Kentucky. My mind immediately thought of Aaron Harrison, meaning we could see a Harrison Twins backcourt again at Rupp Arena.

Beckham is encouraging all of the Big Blue Nation to #PackOutRupp and break the tournament attendance record. That shouldn’t be too difficult with so many fan-favorite players making their way back to Rupp Arena. Tickets for the Lexington Regional are now on sale at thetournament.com/tbt/tickets.