'They definitely got some potential.' La Familia players buying into Mark Pope's first Kentucky team

Over the last couple of weeks, La Familia (Kentucky’s alumni team in The Basketball Tournament) has grown to know the 2024-25 edition of the Kentucky Wildcats quite well on the hardwood. Through 5 vs. 5 practices, one-on-one interviews, and simply being around one another, the past and the present eras have helped each other improve behind closed doors.

Made up mostly of guys who came in and out of this program over the last 15 years, La Familia players know exactly what it takes to thrive at a Blue Blood like Kentucky. They see some of those necessary winning qualities in new head coach Mark Pope, and it’s translating to his players.

“They definitely got some potential,” La Familia’s Andrew Harrison told reporters on Sunday about Pope’s first team in Lexington. “Has good size, some toughness, can really shoot the ball. They got a lot of tools. Coach (Pope) is a great genuine guy, really knows the game. I’m sure they’ll be fine, I’m not worried about it all. Really rooting for them.”

Harrison and the rest of La Familia have spent the last two-plus weeks reliving the college glory days — practicing in the Joe Craft Center, signing autographs for the Big Blue Nation, and winning inside Rupp Arena like it’s pre-2015 all over again. They’re re-experiencing everything the current group of Wildcats is going through (or about to go through) right now.

What the new players have yet to experience, however, is the actual on-court pressure that comes with being a part of Kentucky men’s basketball. But unlike the last 15 years, most of this year’s roster is made up of college veterans thanks to the transfer portal — guys who have been in the pressure cooker before and know what it takes to win.

That won’t make this coming season any less stressful, but playing in high-stakes games in the past certainly helps prepare someone for what’s to come.

La Familia’s Willie Cauley-Stein, who spent three seasons at Kentucky (2012-15), believes Pope understands what it means to play and coach at this program, and what comes with it. The only goal is to win basketball games. Obviously, Pope won the 1996 national championship as a player at UK — he knows better than most what lies ahead if the victories start to stack up. If everyone can thrive under the pressure of it all, there is gold at the end of the rainbow.

“They’re all good kids. They’re not even kids, they’re way older than what most guys coming in would be,” Cauley-Stein said about the 2024-25 Wildcats. “They all got a goal and a common goal I feel like. I think Coach Pope will have them in a frame of mind to — winning matters, it’s immediate here. It’s a lot of pressure but with that pressure is a lot of fun that comes with it. If you can overcome all the odds, it’s one of the best things.“

It might seem mostly insignificant to some in the long run, but the old Wildcats spending time around the new Wildcats can only help. La Familia’s Eric Bledsoe was someone the new batch of Wildcats played with on NBA 2K while growing up. Lamont Butler said that Bledsoe is one of the players who got him playing basketball in the first place. Whatever Bledsoe or any other La Familia player has to say will not fall on deaf ears.

Even if Bledsoe feels like the old man now while doing it, he knows that being able to share some knowledge of what he went through in his career is going to aid the next generation of Wildcats.

“It makes me feel old, man,” Bledsoe joked. “At the same time I’m honored that they did watch me play and to give them some advice, it’s always been a dream of mine to help people that came after me get to where they need to go. I’m definitely honored that they kinda look up to me but I’m also that person they can call and want to talk to.”

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