KSR Today: La Familia vs. The Nawf, Peach Jam wraps up

Good morning, folks! We’ve got another unexpectedly busy day ahead of us. Today’s top priorities? La Familia hosting The Nawf in the second round of The Basketball Tournament’s Lexington Regional and Peach Jam wrapping up in North Augusta, SC.

We’ll start with the former. Do you have your tickets yet? La Familia (Kentucky’s alumni team, if you haven’t learned by now) will take on The Nawf (a team from Georgia with a bunch of players you’ve probably never heard of) this afternoon. Tipoff is set for 2:00 p.m. EST inside Rupp Arena. Roughly 4,000 members of the Big Blue Nation showed up in support of La Familia’s opening-round win on Friday against the 305 Ballers. To break the TBT attendance record, we’d need to see more than 7,500 fans make the trip to downtown Lexington this afternoon.

I think that’s more than doable. We saw over 20,000 of you crazy people pack the building to the brim for a press conference just a few months ago.

Let’s quickly recap what went down during Friday’s 82-56 win. Kerem Kanter (the younger brother of Enes Kanter and the only non-Wildcat on the roster) led the way with 21 points and 12 rebounds. Eric Bledsoe and Aaron Harrison both finished with 13 points while Nate Sestina chipped in 12 points and Andrew Harrison another 11. Willie Cauley-Stein hit a three-pointer and Brennan Canada won the game on a free throw in the Elam Ending.

The BBN was raining down chants on the group of former Wildcats from start to finish. It was a fun night overall for everyone who showed up. Let’s repeat that magic this afternoon with double the crowd, shall we? Enes might be making an appearance to cheer on his brother and the rest of his Kentucky brethren.

You can purchase your tickets through the link here. If you can’t make the trip to Rupp, the game will be livestreamed on FOX or through TBT’s website for free.

Final day of Peach Jam

KSR’s Jack Pilgrim and Jacob Polacheck have been grinding away in North Augusta since Thursday, leaving no scoop unturned down at Peach Jam. Today is championship Sunday where several Kentucky targets will take the floor in hopes of winning the top crown on the Nike EYBL circuit.

Nightrydas Elite and Oakland Soldiers will go head-to-head this morning at 11:30 a.m. EST. Cameron Boozer, Cayden Boozer, and Caleb Wilson represent Nightrydas while AJ Dybansta and Tyran Stokes suit up for Oakland. Kentucky coaches have spent the last few days watching all five of these talented recruits in action and will likely be back in the gym today to check out what should be an excellent matchup.

The game will be broadcast live on NBA TV and for free through the EYBL’s website.

In case you missed anything Jack and Jacob (and the rest of the On3 crew) wrote about on Saturday, you can catch up through the links below. They’ve also been dropping plenty of scoop over on KSBoard that UK recruiting fans need to hear.

• 5-star guard Jasper Johnson nearing commitment, looking for ‘right fit’

Join KSR Plus! With a KSR Plus membership, you get access to bonus content and KSBoard, KSR’s message board, to chat with fellow Cats fans and get exclusive scoop.

Jasper Johnson headed to OTE

Lexington native and top Kentucky recruit Jasper Johnson is moving to Atlanta. The five-star guard is transferring high schools for his senior year and will attend Overtime Elite for the 2024-25 season, it was announced on Saturday. This cements Johnson’s spot in the 2025 class and means he won’t make a return to Woodford County, which was rumored in recent weeks.

“I’m excited to join OTE for my senior season to really take my game to the next level, getting the best training and competing with the best players in the country,” Johnson said. “Coming to OTE to develop puts me one step closer to achieving my dreams, and I can’t wait to get to work.”

A college decision for Johnson is expected “in the next month or so” with Kentucky, Alabama, and North Carolina all battling it out for his talents. Across five games at Peach Jam for Team Thad, Johnson averaged 19.8 points, 3.2 assists, 2.8 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per outing.

Wenyen Gabriel, South Sudan nearly pulled off a historic upset

Granted, it was only an exhibition matchup, but Wenyen Gabriel and South Sudan nearly beat the mighty Team USA on Saturday in a pre-Olympic game. The Americans narrowly snuck away with a 101-100 win in London, the fourth of five exhibitions for Team USA before the Olympics truly begin on July 28.

Gabriel played 19 minutes for South Sudan (ranked 33rd in the world), finishing with 11 points (4-6 FG), six rebounds, and three assists. South Sudan led by as many as 16 points in the second quarter and only lost because of a LeBron James layup with eight seconds left in regulation. These two teams will play again in the group phase on July 31.

For Team USA, a trio of former Wildcats saw some action. Devin Booker received the start and contributed five points (2-5 FG), one rebound, one assist, and one steal in 21 minutes. Anthony Davis and Bam Adebayo both came off the bench, with Davis finding the most success. AD dropped 15 points (4-12 FG), 11 rebounds, two assists, two blocks, and one steal while Adebayo went for four points (1-2 FG), two rebounds, and one steal in 16 minutes.

Subscribe to the KSR YouTube Channel for press conferences, interviews, original shows, fan features, and exclusive content.

Reed and Rob’s final Summer League game

The Houston Rocket’s Reed Sheppard and the Minnesota Timberwolves’ Rob Dillingham will play in their final Summer League games later today in Las Vegas.

Dillingham and the Wolves (3-1) will get us started at 3:00 p.m. EST on NBA TV against the Orlando Magic (2-2). Then at 9:00 p.m. EST on NBA TV, Sheppard and the Rockets (2-2) will close out Sunday’s contests with a matchup against the Portland Trail Blazers (2-2).

Sheppard, in particular, has been a star down in Sin City over the last week-plus. Today will be their final real game opportunity until the preseason this fall.

• Sheppard (4 GP): 20 points, 5.3 assists, 4.7 rebounds, 2.8 steals, and 1.3 blocks in 33.1 minutes per game | 50 FG%, 27.8 3PT%, 75 FT%
• Dillingham (4 GP): 10.8 points, 6.5 assists, and 4.5 rebounds in 29.3 minutes per game | 28.1 FG%, 26.3 3PT%, 60 FT%