On Sunday, August 2nd, 2026, the Kentucky Wildcats’ alumni team, known as La Familia, fell short against the team known as Davis Steel in The Basketball Tournament (TBT) two million dollar championship game hosted at Historic Memorial Coliseum, with a final score of 67-59.
This summer marks the third consecutive year in which alumni from the University of Kentucky Men’s Basketball program have stormed back onto the court to once again don the iconic Kentucky blue uniforms in hopes of winning the two million dollar grand prize. This year was the furthest the former Wildcats have ever made it in the tournament, notably defeating JHX Hoops (a team consisting of alumni players from the University of Kansas) on July 29th, 2026, and being crowned champions of the alumni bracket.
Despite La Familia’s outstanding run in the tournament this summer coming to an end, the very prospect of an alumni team has given former Kentucky players the ability to have a second chance in the spotlight, something that isn’t always possible in the world of college athletics.
Key rotation player for La Familia, Kahlil Whitney, who only averaged 3.3 points during his initial college career with the Wildcats during the 2019-20 season, recently gained traction online after posting a photo to TikTok of himself working a security job alongside a photo from his Kentucky days with the caption, “I probably just needed a hug.”
Whitney, who has now been deemed as a “hero” by Cats’ Pause magazine for his game winning dunk against Boeheim’s Army (a team consisting of alumni players from Syracuse University), went on to open up about his struggles since his college days when speaking with Matt Jones of Kentucky Sports Radio on July 24th, 2026; being quoted as saying “Coming back has helped me tremendously. Just being embraced and being supported by the group of great fans here, it’s amazing. I can’t really put it into words. It just shows that they really care about me as a person and not just as a basketball player.”
Long-time Kentucky basketball fan Wyatt McLeary was quoted at the alumni bracket’s championship game as saying, “I think it means a lot to Kentucky fans and their general perception of some of these players such as Archie Goodwin or Khalil Whitney. Players who weren’t seen very highly in our eyes as fans before the last two years and their redemption, to me at least, shows the unbridled spirit of Kentucky basketball.”
Whitney isn’t the only former Kentucky player to be given a second chance through this year’s TBT matchups, as former NBA lottery pick Willie Cauley-Stein returned to the court with La Familia for what he announced was his last run with professional basketball. After the once widely publicized NBA prospect’s career was cut short as a result of drug abuse, he went on to use this alumni team as a way to come back to the sport and finish it his way, at home. In an interview with Cameron Drummond of the Lexington Herald-Leader, Cauley-Stein was quoted as saying “It’s been a rough few years, so coming back and soaking up all that love out there … I’m excited to feel that and I think it’ll be refreshing.”
The acknowledgement of redemption in the realm of basketball doesn’t appear to be one-sided as the La Familia team were seen remarkably cherishing each moment of the limelight by connecting with fans across Big Blue Nation in attendance by staying after their games this year to both sign autographs and take pictures. Grant Adamson, an attendee of the alumni championship game, stated , “Being able to meet a player like Willie [Cauley-Stein] at one of these games as a Kentucky fan is just awesome. Seeing him willing to sign every autograph for fans he could after the game was just so special.”
Despite falling short of the two million dollar prize this summer, La Familia has succeeded in both reconnecting former players with Big Blue Nation but also giving those players a second chance on the court.