The Basketball Tournament (TBT) is making its annual return this week, filling the basketball-less summer void for the 13th time.

Making its first appearance in 2024, alumni from the Kentucky men’s basketball program, who play as ‘La Familia’, are back in the field this summer, seeking to rule victorious for the first time and take home a jackpot of $2 million.

Here is a deeper glance at how the tournament actually works, which former Cats will be representing La Familia, and who they will face in the first round.

How does it work? The Basketball Tournament is running with a new format this year; there will be 8 alumni teams on one side of the bracket and 8 non-alumni teams on the other side.

The eight alumni teams will tip off the tournament by competing in a best-of-three series against a scheduled opponent, following that, the Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Finals will all be single elimination, NCAA Tournament style.

The alumni bracket will play out across college campuses around the country while the non-alumni bracket will be played from July 23-30 in Las Vegas.

The winner of the alumni bracket will host the winner of the non-alumni bracket in the championship, and the winning team takes home $2 million.

La Familia

La Familia opens the tournament in a best-of-three showdown against The Ville (Louisville’s alumni team), which should bring out the best in the rivalry — as it always does.

Game one will take place at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington on Saturday, July 18 at noon ET, and fans who attend will be given white shirts as a part of a whiteout.

Game two is set for Monday, July 20 at 7 p.m. ET inside of Freedom Hall in Louisville and game three (if necessary) is set for Wednesday, July 22 at 6 p.m. ET, also to be played inside of Freedom Hall.

La Familia is managed by former Wildcat, Twany Beckham, while Jon Hood leads the squad as the head coach. Jazz Ferguson, Ethan Coury, and Natalie Vanarsdall are the three individuals who make up the assistant coaching staff.

The 2026 La Familia roster consists of: Deandre Liggins, Sean McNeil, Chris Coffey, Willie Cauley-Stein, Andrew Harrison, Kahlil Whitney, Archie Goodwin, Darryl Morsell, James Mainor-Bell and Quade Green. Six former Kentucky players, and four others.

UPDATE on 7/15: Reid Travis (back) will no longer participate in the event, Quade Green (personal) has removed himself from participating, and Archie Goodwin (scheduling conflict) will miss the first game of TBT.

Since its debut in 2024, La Familia holds a 6-2 tournament record and has advanced as far as the Semifinals. Last season, the team was bounced in the third round by Eberlein Drive, which ended up falling just short to the AfterSchocks (Wichita State’s alumni team).

The Basketball Tournament can be viewed on either FOX, FS1 or FS2. Tickets can be purchased on tbthoops.com.

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