Fans loved the emotion when UK and Louisville alumni teams played last July. (Vicky Graff Photo)
When will the rest of the LaFamilia roster be announced that will be representing Kentucky in The Basketball Tournament in Lexington?
Brittany Harris, LaFamilia marketing director, said the final roster will likely have 10 or 11 players. Andrew and Aaron Harrison, Willie Cauley-Stein, Doron Lamb and DeAndre Liggins have already committed to play and more players should start being announced soon.
“We don’t really release them all at one time, and we also like to work with the guys on their schedule where they’re able to do interviews and give some time back to the media,” Harris said. “A lot of our guys are still playing overseas right now, so that’s part of the reason too why we kind of release them in the way that we do.
“When we release them they’re excited to do interviews and they want to be able to talk to the public right away, and some of them just can’t because of their time constraints if they are still playing. So we will release one to two players over the next several weeks and so you guys can be looking out for those announcements coming up soon. But you’re gonna be really really excited.”
Harris, a life-long UK fan, had a hard time not revealing who the players will be, especially knowing the speculation about several big-name former UK players who have been contacted about playing.”
“It’s hard for me (not to say anything). I know the roster and I can’t just scream it to everybody because I’m like you guys (fans) are gonna be so excited. All these guys are coming back. It’s gonna be awesome,” Harris said.
Sunday Morning Sports Talk co-host Anthony White asked Harris if the “ruckus” at Freedom Hall last summer when the UK alumni team played Louisville was “staged” to promote the event or was just spontaneous?
“That was real emotion. I think if you listen to the players’ talk after that, you could tell that it was real for them,” Harris said. “It was definitely real for us as fans. It was real for us as the (LaFamilia) management. It just kind of exploded.
“I think that people that don’t understand that rivalry think that it takes time off. It doesn’t. It’s always still there bubbling under the surface. You could see that it came out, when we got into Freedom Hall and it was a lot red and the lights went red and they (Louisville fans) were screaming and our guys could feel it. You could feel it inside there.
“It was a different kind of feeling. The whole building was shaking. And then after that, when we beat them, emotions were very high. I mean fans were legitimately getting mad, throwing stuff, cussing at people.”
If the UK and Louisville alumni teams each win their regionals, the two rivals would meet again in Freedom Hall.
“If they get to that game, they have to get to that game, then we’re going to play them there,” Harris said. “But you know, that’s a shorter trip for Louisville fans to go home. I’d say bring it. That environment was pretty amazing last year, and it’s going to be even better this year (if the rematch happens.)
2 Responses
Mr. Wildcat would love it even more if the Kentucky alums finally win it at least once.
Lamb wqs a pure shooter, Willie was a mobile giant, Liggins was an energized bunny & the Harrison Twins were very talented.
The twins got a bad rap for being in the game the last 5 minutes when the 38-0 record got blemished, but that was not their fault – it was 100% on the fraud!
Just those 5 make a very competitive team. With a few additions, UK should be very tough to beat.