La Familia’s TBT opener was a blowout. And a couple of ex-Cats found redemption
Willie Cauley-Stein was looking forward to Friday night.
A few days before La Familia played their opener in the TBT — a return to the court for several former Kentucky Wildcats — the beloved 7-footer talked about this year’s switch from Rupp Arena to the renovated Memorial Coliseum for the summer basketball tournament.
“I think the atmosphere is gonna be crazy,” Cauley-Stein said. “... A little smaller, intimate, but, you know, louder, more people, more bodies. So I’m excited to play there. It’s gonna be fun.”
It was.
And much of that fun was reserved for a couple of ex-Cats who endured more than their share of struggles the first time around in blue and white.
La Familia defeated Stroh’s Squad 105-52 on Friday night, this summer’s collection of mostly UK alumni dispatching the Bowling Green State University-affiliated team with little trouble.
The top scorer for the winning team? Archie Goodwin, who was also the leading scorer on the Cats’ ill-fated 2012-13 squad, the only one in John Calipari’s first decade as Kentucky’s head coach that didn’t make the NCAA Tournament. (And the only one in his first six seasons in charge that didn’t go at least as far as the Elite Eight.)
Goodwin — a star recruit from Arkansas — ended up bearing the brunt of fan angst as a freshman that year, a long slog of a season that featured subpar point guard play, the devastating injury to Nerlens Noel and, ultimately, a first-round exit from the NIT.
On Friday night, none of that mattered.
Goodwin was in the starting lineup. The crowd cheered when his name was called. The ball ended up in his hands after a scramble on the opening tip. He nailed a 3-pointer for the game’s first points, and the crowd roared again.
By the end of the night, he had 19 points, seven rebounds and eight assists. His last bucket was a dunk, and he had a big smile on his face by the time his feet landed on the court. A few moments later, he left the floor for good to a nice ovation.
“It was fun,” Goodwin said. “I think, at the end of the day, we’re all grateful to be here. We all had our ups and downs here, but I had a great time. Enjoyed the fans. They embraced me well today. And I just want to continue to do this as long as we can. Hopefully we can make it to the end and continue to get that support we had, because it was amazing tonight.”
Sitting next to Goodwin at the postgame podium? Kahlil Whitney, who was also a much-celebrated recruit upon his arrival in Lexington, but that stay didn’t last long.
Whitney played less than most of the five-stars on Calipari’s watch and ended up leaving the Wildcats in the middle of the 2019-20 season, an unceremonious departure that left UK fans stunned.
On Friday night, he entered the game for the first time out of a timeout, so there was no announcement of his return over the PA — no chance for the crowd to show its approval in those opening moments.
A little while later, he scored a bucket, his name was called, and the fans answered with cheers. He ended up throwing down a couple of big alley-oop dunks and scored 14 points. Only Goodwin had more.
“It was surreal,” Whitney said. “It felt good. Just felt good from the fans embracing me. Felt like I was 17, 18 years old again, so that was a great feeling.”
There were a lot of those to go around on this night.
Cauley-Stein slammed one home to cheers. Doron Lamb hit three 3-pointers, reviving the “3 goggles” — a staple of his time at UK, which included the 2012 national title run — after each one, much to the delight of those in attendance.
Aaron and Andrew Harrison — the Cats’ starting backcourt for two Final Four seasons — were back in town. Andrew’s lone 3-pointer put La Familia ahead for good. Aaron hit three 3-pointers and finished with 14 points.
DeAndre Liggins was the team’s low scorer with four points, but Liggins was never really known for his scoring. It was always his defense that led the way, and he proved Friday night that — at 37 years old — he can still be a tone-setter there. His intensity on that side of the ball was the same as it had been 14 years ago, when he helped lead the Cats to the Final Four.
La Familia’s trio of non-Cats — Kerem Kanter (brother of Enes), ex-Murray State player DJ Burns and former Henry Clay High School star Marques Warrick — all contributed, too.
And UK basketball great Rajon Rondo sat courtside, signing autographs at halftime. The current Kentucky players sat behind him, cheering on the old guys.
La Familia will be back in Memorial Coliseum at 2:30 p.m. EDT Sunday to play War Ready, a team featuring several former Auburn players. Five more victories, and La Familia will take home the TBT’s $1 million grand prize.
Oh, and the other member of this Kentucky crew? Ansley Almonor, the first player from the Mark Pope era to join up with the UK-affiliated summer team. He was the first one off the bench and got perhaps the biggest pop of the night at that moment.
His shots weren’t falling, and he didn’t play for much of the night.
But La Familia head coach Sean Woods made sure he was on the floor at the end. The TBT games finish with the “Elam Ending” — a system that necessitates a score to bring out the final buzzer — and the ex-Cats needed three more points to ice it when the ball ended up in Almonor’s hands.
He let one fly — 0-for-4 from deep to that point in the game — and this one dropped. Almonor smiled as his La Familia teammates raced over to mob him.
“Almonor was a little nervous today, playing in front of everybody for the first time,” Woods said afterward. “But I was trying to get him going. And that last one from 3 — I was gonna make sure nobody else shot that ball but him. And finally, he made one. So hopefully that can get him going for the next one, because we’re gonna need him.”
This story was originally published July 19, 2025 at 12:28 AM.
