By Russ Brown
Kentucky Today
If you are a Louisville or Kentucky fan and you don’t get enough of the rivalry in basketball and football, here’s another chance to indulge your passion with an expanded event this summer.
The Basketball Tournament (TBT) announced Monday that the U of L alumni team, The Ville, will play Kentucky’s alumni team, La Familia, in a new best-of-three-series in July.
The first game is set for a noon tipoff July 18 in Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, with the rematch on July 20 at 7 p.m. at Freedom Hall. Game 1 will be televised on FOX, with Game 2 on FS1. If necessary, the third game will tip off on July 22 at 6 p.m. on FS1. Homecourt advantage will be determined by which venue sells the most ticket for the game it’s hosting between 10 a.m. Monday and 10 a.m. Tuesday.
The Ville and La Familia have met just once in the TBT, in 2024 in Freedom Hall, won by UK’s alumnus, 70-61. That contest broke the tournaments attendance record with a crowd of 13,506 and it was a heated affair, capped by a brawl at the final buzzer.
“These two fan bases are incredible,” TBT CEO Jon Mugar said in a release. “Based on the 13,506 that came out for this matchup in 2024, we expect this to be one of the most raucous sporting events of the summer. Especially now that there’s two million dollars at stake.”
In addition to the headline event, TBT also unveiled a new 16-team format and winner-take-all $2 million prize, with eight alumni teams and eight non-alumni teams competing on two sides of the bracket. The first round will be a best-of-three series before returning to the single elimination format. Five wins will be needed to pocket the $2 million. In the first three years of the TBT, the field consisted of 60 teams in a single-elimination tournament.
The Ville vs. La Familia survivor will face the winner of the series between Syracuse’s alumni team, Boeheim’s Army, and Seton Hall’s squad, Hall In, at 2 p.m. July 26 on FOX. The alumni bracket winner will host the tourney’s championship game Aug. 2 on FOX against the non-alumni winner on the alumni team’s homecourt.
North Hardin boys basketball coach Michael Baffour, a member of Louisville’s 2013 national championship team, will be The Ville’s fourth different head coach in as many years. Legendary Cardinal Russ Smith is taking over general manager duties and will also return for a fourth year as a player. Wayne Blackshear, who played for U of L from 2011-15, will serve as Smith’s assistant GM.
“It’s an honor to be in a position to lead from the front office and add some new faces as we rebuild The Ville,” Smith said in the release. “The reception has been great and we can’t wait to be on the court and highlight the pro talent that was developed at the University of Louisville. We love that we get to play against our arch-nemeses from Kentucky. Those matchups are always heated. We are out for retribution. Bring it on!”
Edgar Sosa and Malik Williams were the first two players named for The Ville. Former UK guard Jon Hood will take over as La Familia’s head coach and Willie Cauley-Stein, Archie Goodwin and Reid Travis will be among the players.
“We’ve faced The Ville before and came out on top,” and we plan to do it again,” said Cauley-Stein. “La Familia has what it takes to win this series. We’re prepared and motivated to show that we’re the better team. Louisville should know that we won’t let them get in the way of us winning $2 million.”
Last year, AfterShocks (Wichita State) defeated Eberlein Drive for the title in front of a record championship game crowd of 9,029 in Koch Arena in Wichita. TBT drew 85,395 fans last summer, surpassing its own record. Since 2022, TBT has grown its annual attendance by over 136%.