Willie Cauley-Stein, James Young reunite for TBT after playing together in Italy last season

During James Young‘s lone season at Kentucky in 2013-14, he became close friends with Willie Cauley-Stein, who was a sophomore at the time for the Wildcats. The two were key pieces in Kentucky’s run to the 2014 national championship game, which (as we know) unfortunately ended with a loss to UConn.

Over a decade later, the two will reunite as teammates in Lexington once again when they suit up for La Familia in this week’s The Basketball Tournament at Rupp Arena. But this isn’t the first time since college that the former Wildcats will take the court together wearing the same jersey.

In fact, this will mark the second time this year that they’ve been able to call each other teammates. Young, 28, and Cauley-Stein, 30, were actually on the same professional team in Italy for a stint in the 2023-24 season for Pallacanestro Varese. Young played seven games while Cauley-Stein played 11, according to Proballers.

An injury to one of Varese’s players opened up a need for someone with Young’s skillset. Cauley-Stein didn’t waste any time making the call to his former Kentucky teammate, whom he hadn’t seen in two years at that point.

“He was playing with Treviso (in Italy) but something happened and (James) ended up coming to us,” Cauley-Stein said Wednesday morning on KSR. “He texted me like ‘Hey bro what’s going on over there?’ Well our three-man broke his hand, and I was like ‘Bro, our three-man just broke his hand, tell your agent let’s get on it.’ Two days later he’s popping up in the city, I’m like ‘Oh it actually happened, let’s go!’ I was hype.“

Oddly enough, WCS and Young weren’t the only former ‘Cats playing in the same Italian league, Lega Basket Serie A, either. Alex Poythress (Olimpia Milano) and Kyle Wiltjer (Reyer Venezia) also played in Lega Basket Serie A last season. Seeing so many familiar faces and a longtime friend on his team helped Cauley-Stein adapt to his first time playing overseas.

“It’s my first time. (James is) a veteran over there. For me, it was a culture shock,” Cauley-Stein said. “I brought my wife and kids out there. I knew he was in our league, AP [Alex Poythress] was in our league, and Kyle Witljer was in our league. This is in Italy, so we’re all in the same league playing against each other and I’m like ‘Oh this is lit.’

“It was a great thing for me because I didn’t really know too many people out there.”

Now back in Lexington for The Basketball Tournament, they know plenty of people — even if there’s a new coaching staff running their alma mater. Cauley-Stein, Young, and the rest of La Familia have been making the rounds over the last several days, doing media appearances, meeting with fans for pictures and autographs, and even practicing against Mark Pope‘s first Kentucky team.

In a couple of days, they’ll return to Rupp Arena to play in front of the Big Blue Nation for what will hopefully be the first of three games. TBT is a single-elimination tournament, so it’s win or go home from the opening tip. But getting a chance to see the roaring fans again was one of the main reasons they signed up for this event, and they’re hoping to put on a good show.

“It feels amazing,” Young said on KSR. “A lot has changed since I’ve been here and I’m glad they upgraded a lot of things. The guys are having a good time and I’m glad to be back on campus and just being back with everybody.”

“The energy is crazy,” Cauley-Stein added. “You don’t get this, you don’t get this. This is a one-stop shop, you know what I mean? You don’t get this love. That’s one of the things I tell the new guys is, when you leave here, it all changes. You’re no longer Willie Cauley-Stein of Kentucky basketball. You’re just Willie Cauley-Stein. And that energy is crazy, the love that you feel as soon as you step off the plane is unmatched.”

You can watch Cauley-Stein, Young, and the rest of the former ‘Cats in action later this week when La Familia takes on the 305 Ballers this Friday at 8:00 p.m. EST inside Rupp. Tickets are still on sale at thetournament.com/tbt/tickets where a portion of ticket sales will go towards Kentucky’s NIL efforts. All games will be streamed live on FS1.