A member of the UK basketball ‘Unforgettables’ will coach former Cats this summer
A member of Kentucky basketball’s “Unforgettables” team will get the chance to coach a group of Wildcats this summer.
On Tuesday morning, it was announced that former Kentucky guard Sean Woods would be the head coach this summer for La Familia, the UK alumni team that will be playing in The Basketball Tournament in July at Memorial Coliseum.
Also known as TBT, the 64-team, single-elimination summer event features a $1 million winner-takes-all championship game.
Woods, 55, was recently named the boys basketball head coach at Scott County High School in Georgetown. He owns two decades of college coaching experience, including head coaching gigs at Mississippi Valley State (2008-2012), Morehead State (2012-17) and Southern (2018-2023).
Before that, Woods was a standout point guard at Kentucky from 1988-1992. An Indianapolis native, Woods played in 91 games for the Wildcats and finished his UK career with 482 assists. Woods — along with underclassman Jamal Mashburn and fellow seniors Richie Farmer, Deron Feldhaus and John Pelphrey — formed the core of Kentucky’s 1991-92 “Unforgettables” team.
That squad, under the direction of third-year coach Rick Pitino, returned to March Madness following a period of NCAA probation and reached the Elite Eight of the 1992 NCAA Tournament, before falling to Duke on Christian Laettner’s overtime buzzer-beating shot.
“I feel honored and privileged to be a part of La Familia for the second year,” Woods said in a TBT news release. “… We’re looking forward to an even bigger and better experience than we did last summer… I’m very confident that we have a great chance of winning TBT and will continue to uphold Wildcat pride over the summer.”
Woods won’t be a new face on the sideline for La Familia. He was an assistant coach on last year’s La Familia team, which won the Lexington Regional and eliminated The Ville, a Louisville alumni team, in a spirited game at Freedom Hall in the Derby City. La Familia lost in the TBT semifinals last summer. (Last year’s La Familia head coach was Tyler Ulis, another ex-UK guard.)
But after coming up just two wins short of the TBT title, Woods isn’t the only person affiliated with last year’s squad who will run it back this year.
Ex-Cats Willie Cauley-Stein, Aaron Harrison and Andrew Harrison are already signed on to play with La Familia again this summer. Cauley-Stein was named the TBT’s defensive player of the year in 2024. Doron Lamb and DeAndre Liggins have also been announced as new additions for La Familia’s second run at the TBT title. Former UK player Twany Beckham will again serve as La Familia’s general manager this year.
After playing its games in Lexington at Rupp Arena last year, La Familia will be hosting games inside newly renovated Memorial Coliseum on the UK campus this summer. Last year, La Familia played, and won, its first three games in Rupp Arena, and a crowd of nearly 4,000 fans attended the first of those contests.
While the La Familia roster will primarily feature players from the John Calipari coaching era at Kentucky, current UK head coach Mark Pope has been a vocal supporter of La Familia’s participation in the event.
When La Familia was announced as returning for a second season in TBT in February, Pope again voiced his support.
“We can’t wait to welcome back some Wildcat legends for TBT, because last summer was electric,” Pope said in a statement in February. “I know Big Blue Nation and our team will be ready to help create an epic environment in Memorial and help the guys chase a championship.”
This year, La Familia’s TBT games at Memorial Coliseum will run from July 18-22. Ticket information for these games can be found at tbthoops.com/tickets/lexington.
La Familia is one of seven TBT teams that will take part in the Lexington Regional. The others are Dunkin’ Dogs (Louisiana Tech alumni), Richards Elite, Boston vs Cancer, War Ready (Auburn alumni), Tampa Florida Pickup Basketball and X-Rayted. The seven games in the Lexington Regional will be played across four sessions.
The winner of the Lexington Regional will advance to play in the TBT quarterfinals on July 29. The TBT semifinals will be played July 31 and the $1 million championship game will be played Aug. 3.
This story was originally published May 20, 2025 at 10:47 AM.
