Willie Cauley Stein will be back in Lexington playing in the TBT again this summer.
Willie Cauley-Stein will be back playing for La Familia in the 2025 TBT. (Vicky Graff Photo)
By JAKE PAVORSKY, TBT
The Basketball Tournament (TBT), the 64-team, $1 million winner-take-all event, announced today that Lexington will once again serve as one of the regional locations for the 2025 event.
La Familia, the Kentucky alumni team, will return as featured in the eight-team Lexington Regional hosted by the University of Kentucky. The regional games will be played at Memorial Coliseum from July 18 to 23.
Willie Cauley-Stein, TBT’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year, will return to play for La Familia in 2025.
La Familia will look to build on the success of last summer’s debut at Rupp Arena. Led by Cauley-Stein, Eric Bledsoe, and the Harrison twins, the Kentucky alumni team captured the Lexington Regional title and made a run to TBT’s semifinals, highlighted by a thrilling quarterfinal victory over The Ville (Louisville Alumni) in front of 13,506 fans at Freedom Hall. La Familia is organized by general manager Twany Beckham, who played at Kentucky from 2011-13.
They will be joined in the regional by seven other teams hoping to emerge one step closer to TBT’s $1 million grand prize.
“We can’t wait to welcome back some Wildcat legends for TBT, because last summer was electric,” said Kentucky men’s basketball head coach Mark Pope. “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.”
“La Familia and their fan base took TBT by storm last year,” said TBT founder and CEO Jon Mugar. “Twany rapidly built a fan favorite that contended for the championship, which is nearly impossible to do in the first year of TBT. We look forward to partnering with the University of Kentucky to host games in the newly renovated Memorial Coliseum. Big Blue Nation will have it rocking.”
“We had a great time competing in TBT,” said La Familia general manager Twany Beckham. “The support from the university, the community, Big Blue Nation, and our partners was incredible. We’re excited to compete again this year and look forward to making another deep run in the tournament!”
The winner of the Lexington Regional will advance to TBT’s quarterfinals on July 28. The semifinals will be held on July 31, and TBT’s $1 million championship will be played on Aug. 3.
For the first time, TBT will allow each host team to have a home-court advantage for the quarterfinals, semifinals, and the $1 million championship game. Should two regional hosts face-off, the tiebreaker will be determined by which host sells 4,000 tickets the fastest.
In addition to Cauley-Stein, La Familia will make additional roster announcements in the spring via their social media pages, @LaFamiliaTBT.
Tickets for the 2025 Lexington Regional will go on sale May 6. Fans can sign up for tickets and
team notifications at tbthoops.com/tickets/notifications.
For more information on this year’s TBT or La Familia, visit tbthoops.com.
