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Two Kentucky Alumni Join LaFamilia Team for Upcoming Summer Season

The La Familia alumni basketball team welcome Deandre Liggins to this year’s roster, who joins Doron Lamb on an already exciting squad.

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Deandre Liggins joins the La Familia team.
247Sports

What does the Big Blue Nation do over the summer? Well, in addition to speculating about lineups and scouting tickets for the next year’s final four, last year, the Kentucky faithful came together to cheer on LaFamilia.

If you’re unfamiliar with the name, LaFamilia is an alumni basketball team comprised of former Kentucky players, who play against other similar teams from adjacent programs. The competition takes place in “The Basketball Tournament” (TBT), an independent hoops league that has begun to bridge the gap between spring and fall basketball.

Last season, LaFamilia made headlines with a win over Louisville’s alumni team in the tournament; just like any other UK/UL rivalry game, no love was lost. Words were said, players shoved, and one player even spit at another in a particularly heated moment towards the end of the game… and he wasn’t wearing blue.

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Anywho, that team, consisting of the likes of Willie Cauley-Stein, Andrew Harrison, Nate Sestina and more, electrified Kentucky fans who had nothing better to do and, despite coming up short of the TBT title, turned all eyes to the next time they’d take the floor.

The first two players confirmed for this year’s LaFamilia unit were Doron Lamb, former sharpshooter and crucial member of the 2012 national championship team and DeAndre Liggins, who was a Wildcat from 2008-11′. The announcement went up today on the LaFamilia X (Twitter).

With the summer season drawing closer, these two Wildcats are likely the first in a string of additional alumni set to join the roster soon. Once a ‘Cat, always a ‘Cat.

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Kentucky Baseball Wins Back-To-Back SEC Series For First Time This Season

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Luke Lawrence
Aran Steele | UK Athletics

For the first time this season, Kentucky baseball has won back-to-back conference series, beating the Tennessee Volunteers and the South Carolina Gamecocks in consecutive weekends.

After they dropped the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, Kentucky put up 11 runs on Sunday, April 27, where eight different Wildcats recorded a hit and six different Cats recorded an RBI.

This season has been painfully unfortunate for Kentucky, playing in countless extra-inning games and losing 10 matchups by two runs or less.

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However, the Wildcats hold a 6-2 record in their last eight games, where they’ve averaged over seven runs a game and have continued their “by any means possible” offense, sitting just one game under .500 in SEC play.

The vibes, with a turning point in the season, have been great. The Cats are having fun.

As the regular season continues to wither away, the Wildcats still have several proving grounds awaiting them on their schedule.

On Tuesday, April 29, the Wildcats will travel to Nick Denes Field to face the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, a team who isn’t a blow over. Although the Hilltoppers were just swept on the road by FIU, the team holds a 34-10 record and have only lost one game at home.

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Nationally, this would be seen as a very quality win for the Bat Cats.

This upcoming weekend, the Wildcats were gearing up for a scrappy series against a bubble-sitting Mississippi State team, but after Head Coach Chris Lemonis has been relieved of his duties, we’re now in for an even more interesting outcome.

Regardless, Kentucky will be looking to continue its hot streak.

The Wildcats remaining schedule consists of:

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April 29 @ Western Kentucky (34-10)

May 2-4 @ Mississippi State (25-19, 7-14 SEC)

May 9-11 vs. No. 21 Oklahoma (30-13, 11-10 SEC)

May 13 vs. Northern Kentucky (24-18)

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May 15-17 @ No. 14 Vanderbilt (31-13, 12-9 SEC)


All rankings are provided from Baseball America.

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Underdogs To Undeniable: Kentucky Baseball Is Winning At The Right Time

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Cole Hage Celebrates
Caleb Bowlin | UK Athletics

Before the Tennessee series, the Bat Cats sat at a 20-14 (6-9 SEC) record, one that indicated that the back half of the season would need to look a little different for Kentucky to keep climbing the ladder and host a third consecutive Regional.

Kentucky spent the first half of SEC play competing in nothing but close series and often came up short, resulting in its RPI to take a fall.

Now, winning a series in Knoxville for the first time since 2016 and shredding the rival Louisville Cardinals in a midweek game, the Wildcats have won three straight ranked matchups and have jumped up nearly 11 spots.

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This scrappy Kentucky team is currently projected as a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, and will host the South Carolina Gamecocks this weekend.

For a team that is 3-9 on the road and barely sitting on the bubble for the big dance, it’s safe to say this is Kentucky’s series and the Cats should dominate at Kentucky Proud Park.

Not only is the Kentucky offense coming off of a run-rule win where it scored 17 runs, the starting rotation has established itself as one of the best in the conference.

Nic McCay, the SEC Pitcher of the Week, has the best opponent batting average in the SEC (.177) and Ben Cleaver has been dealing lately with one of the best ERAs in the conference.

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It’ll be fun to see the Wildcats potentially play in another rainy series in Lexington, looking to stay red hot and sweep an underwhelming Gamecocks team.

Make sure to follow our Twitter (X) (@KyInsider) for all weather updates this weekend. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. tonight and will air live on SEC Network+.

The Wildcats remaining confrence schedule consists of:

April 25-27 vs. South Carolina 

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May 2-4 @ Mississippi State 

May 9-11 vs. No. 11 Oklahoma 

May 15-17 @ No. 8 Vanderbilt 


All rankings are provided from Baseball America.

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A Pair of Kentucky Alumni Look to Continue Hot Streaks in NBA Play-In

Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo led the Miami Heat to a win in the first round of the NBA play-in, and they aren’t done yet.

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Tyler Herro during his time at Kentucky.
UK Athletics

Despite playing during different eras in their time wearing the blue and white, Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo have come together on the next level to create a powerful duo for the Miami Heat. Their performance in the first round of this year’s play-in is further proof of their effectiveness together.

The nine-seeded Heat traveled to Chicago to fight for a spot in the playoffs, and from the jump, the aforementioned pair of Kentucky alumni took control in what became a complete blowout.

Throughout the convincing 109-90 road win, Herro, now in his fifth year in the NBA, led the offensive charge. He finished the night with a stat-stuffing 38 points, five rebounds and four assists in 37 minutes of game time. Chicago simply didn’t have an answer for Miami’s flame-throwing shooter out of Lexington.

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In the paint, Bam Adebayo held things down and led the team in rebounds, nabbing 12 boards, and tallying 15 points to boot in just one less minute than Herro. Together, the duo buried the Bulls on their own floor and kept the Heat’s head above water going forward.

While both players came up ultimately short during their time with Kentucky, albeit after two incredibly memorable seasons and Elite Eight runs, their ongoing success in the NBA is both a testament to their talent and the program’s legacy. Once a Wildcat, always a Wildcat.

The Kentucky Heat (Miami Wildcats?) will be back in action tonight against the Atlanta Hawks to determine their seeding fate in the NBA Playoffs. Tune in at 7:00 p.m. on TNT, truTV, or Max to cheer on some seriously special former ‘Cats.

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