Willie Cauley-Stein said it is a "blessing" to be back in Lexington playing for La Familia. (Vicky Graff Photo)
La Familia is all about family, and it showed Monday as a group of former Kentucky players assembled and prepared to compete in The Basketball Tournament that begins Thursday at eight regional sites in the country.
La Familia is the No. 1 seed in the Lexington Regional and will take on Stroh Squad, which features former Bowling Green University standouts at 9 p.m. Friday at Memorial Coliseum. La Familia reached the semifinals a year ago, falling short of the $1 million prize given to the winning team.
“They’re the right guys for this situation, and I couldn’t be more ecstatic and more optimistic about coaching,” said La Familia coach Sean Woods.
The la Familia roster consists of former Wildcat standouts Willie Cauley-Stein, Andrew and Aaron Harrison, Deron Lamb, DeAndre Liggins and recent Kentucky graduate Ansley Almonor.
“They’re all professionals, so it’s going to be fun and it’s going to be easier,” Wood said. “The good thing about it, these guys still have pride in winning, and that’s what’s going to make it refreshing.”
That winning attitude, Woods said, comes from being a part of the program at Kentucky.
“It’s in them,” Woods said. “They won here. There were no losers to ever play here at Kentucky, especially with these guys. They know how significant they are coming back, because some hadn’t been back in a while. Some of them only played it for eight months. There’s still something about that K to the end, to the Y, that makes you get your blood boiling and you can just feel it just by talking to them.”
Cauley-Stein said coming back to Lexington is always rewarding, especially getting the opportunity to play at Historic Memorial Coliseum.
“It’s always a blessing and the people show out, so it’s fun to play,” he said. “I think the atmosphere is going to be crazy. I think it’ll be a lot like how we played in Freedom Hall last year — a little smaller, intimate, but louder, more people, more bodies. So I’m excited to play there.”
Woods said the key to being successful in the tournament again for a second straight year is to “just stay consistent.”
“Last year, we were doing all the right things, but Nate Sustina had to leave, and that hurt us a little bit,” he said. “This year, everybody’s made us a full commitment to go the long haul, so we can just stay in it.”
Woods added that defense will also be a key component in the tournament.
“You’ve got to play defense, and we did last year — that’s what kept us in the game,” he recalled. “We were locking people up, holding them under 70 points a game. This year, I think we have a much better defensive team with personnel. Not only that, I think we can play much faster on the offensive end.”
Woods, recently hired as boys basketball coach at Scott County High School, is looking forward to the challenge.
“I’m always excited to coach, period,” he said with a smile.
TBT Media Day
Photos by Vicky Graff
