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Kentucky, Ohio State alumni teams advance following memorable night of TBT action

Published

2 years ago

July 30, 2024

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Kentucky, Ohio State alumni teams advance following memorable night of TBT action

John Fanta

College Basketball Broadcaster and Reporter

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — It was a night 11 years in the making, one that will live on forever in the history of The Basketball Tournament. A total of 13,506 fans – including 12-time NBA All-Star and TBT partner Chris Paul – packed Freedom Hall on Monday night to watch the matchup between La Familia and The Ville, which featured 11 former NBA players.

The echoes were awoken from a place Louisville basketball hasn’t called home in 14 years, but in the end, it was silence from the sea of red. Former Kentucky standout Andrew Harrison, the twin of fellow La Familia teammate and legendary UK shotmaker Aaron Harrison, put his stamp on the Battle of the Bluegrass State with a game-winning triple to seal a 70-61 win over The Ville and book a trip to Friday’s semifinals (7/9 p.m. ET on FS1).

For Kentucky, which fielded an alumni team for the second time in TBT history, this year was about avenging a first-round exit in their first-ever appearance in the event back in 2019. General manager Twany Beckham and head coach Tyler Ulis, who’s following John Calipari to Arkansas after The Basketball Tournament concludes, have done just that and now stand two wins away from $1 million.

La Familia will head to the semifinals and take on 2019 TBT champion Carmen’s Crew, the Ohio State alumni team, which made a massive statement Monday night with a 90-74 victory over Takeover BC. At one point, Jared Sullinger and the Buckeyes led by 40. It will be a tough test for La Familia when they go up against the band of Buckeyes on Friday night in Philadelphia.

Here are three takeaways from Monday night’s TBT action:

1. Willie Cauley-Stein balled out and Nate Sestina’s shooting was the difference for La Familia

The 30-year-old Cauley-Stein, who played seven seasons in the NBA and was a consensus first-team All-American on Kentucky’s legendary 38-1 team in 2014-15 that bowed out in the Final Four, said heading into TBT that he needed the energy of Big Blue Nation in his life to produce a spark in his basketball career. With the bright lights on him Monday, Cauley-Stein showed why he’s a Kentucky fan favorite, going for 20 points, nine rebounds and four steals, all while shooting 8-of-9 from downtown. His defensive activity was off the charts and the amount of pressure the 2016 NBA All-Rookie selection put on the rim changed the game. In a matchup with 2020 NBA Sixth Man of the Year Montrezl Harrell, Cauley-Stein had the last word and controlled the paint scoring.

The difference in Monday night’s rivalry win for La Familia, though, was Nate Sestina. The 2024 Turkish Super League champion proved that TBT spotlights some of the best talent from across the globe. In a game where both teams struggled to shoot in the first half, the 6-foot-9 Sestina sparked a 26-11 third quarter in favor of the Kentucky alumni, going on a personal 9-0 run at one point. He finished with 22 points and eight rebounds, shooting 6-for-14 from downtown.

2. Carmen’s Crew has the pieces to win a second TBT title

Sullinger has not played in TBT since 2018, but the former two-time first-team All-American was convinced by his children to hit the hardwood in a Buckeyes uniform again. After coaching the Ohio State alumni to The Basketball Tournament crown five years ago, the 6-9 forward posted seven points and 10 rebounds in Monday’s blowout win over Takeover BC.

Ohio State’s alumni team led 52-25 at halftime, starting the game 15-for-30 from 3-point land and seeing 10 different players score in the first half. Andre Wesson, who had his Ohio State career cut short by COVID-19 in 2020, is having the last word now as a Buckeye. The 6-6 wing led the way with 16 points on Monday, while point guard and UT-Arlington product Erick Neal posted a dozen points in a dominant victory. In total, eight different players knocked down a triple and the Buckeyes alumni held lead Takeover BC scorer AJ English to 1-for-7 from the floor. Between lockdown defense, hot shooting and a 44-32 advantage on the glass, Carmen’s Crew showed their best as they coasted to win No. 4 in their pursuit of $1 million.

3. Monday night was a celebration of basketball

Nearly 14,000 people were in an arena on a Monday night in July for a basketball game. It felt like a winter night at Freedom Hall. It absolutely felt like Louisville and Kentucky.

There was drama at the end of the game following the handshake line, but that’s to be expected. Something wouldn’t be right with Kentucky and Louisville if they were cordial after a game. It was a perfect reminder of what it means to the commonwealth and how much it matters in college basketball. For Kentucky and Louisville, who usher in the Mark Pope and Pat Kelsey eras, respectively, there is energy and hope for what can be under new leadership for both programs, with Kentucky trying to turn a corner in March and Louisville trying to get the car started again.

On Monday night, for two hours, the nostalgia of TBT and the ability of this event to create new memories was on display. It was great for the sport of basketball, and it was perfect for the future of this event. With the eyes of the country watching, it was a reminder that the Cardinals and Wildcats have formed one of the top rivalries in college basketball, and The Basketball Tournament has found a window in the ever-chaotic sports calendar to become a summer basketball tradition. The scene on Monday was one of the best I’ve ever seen covering basketball, and it gave us a taste of March while La Familia reminded everybody that the state continues to belong to Big Blue Nation.

John Fanta is a national college basketball broadcaster and writer for FOX Sports. He covers the sport in a variety of capacities, from calling games on FS1 to serving as lead host on the BIG EAST Digital Network to providing commentary on The Field of 68 Media Network. Follow him at @John_Fanta.

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Ohio State football single game tickets now on sale | Buckeyes Wire

Published

10 hours ago

June 28, 2026

Press Room

Ohio State football single game tickets now on sale | Buckeyes Wire

There are several sign posts on the way to the start of the college football season and the ability to see Ohio State on the banks of the Olentangy again, and one of them is when single-game tickets go on sale. In that case, you rejoice a little because the ability to purchase tickets to a game of your choice is now available.

Ohio State welcomes Ball State, Kent State, Illinois, Maryland, Oregon, Northwestern, and Michigan to Ohio Stadium this year, and you can now try to score tickets by going to the Ohio State football section of Ticketmaster and selecting the game you want to attend.

A quick search shows that tickets are still available for any home date if you are willing to buy resale tickets in most cases, though “The Game” against the Wolverines is much steeper in price than others. There’s a good bet that those tickets will disappear along with others, or become more expensive as the days go by, so if you were planning on trying to make that a day to remember, you might want to jump on things quickly.

The link to Ticketmaster also has the links to away games if that’s something you are interested in. The Buckeyes will travel to play at Texas, Iowa, Indiana, USC, and Nebraska. Likewise, some are resale tickets and will set you back much more significantly, but there are tickets available if you want to spend the money.

Ohio State has a daunting schedule this year both at home and with away games and it’s almost a sure bet that some of these games will be hard-fought fourth quarter affairs.

Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes, and opinion. Follow Phil Harrison on X.

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In Springfield, Ohio, Trump’s rhetoric becomes a grim reality

Published

20 hours ago

June 27, 2026

Press Room

In Springfield, Ohio, Trump’s rhetoric becomes a grim reality

Having lived with Donald Trump’s infamous and baseless insult against them — “they’re eating the dogs … they’re eating the cats” — Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, are bracing for a far bigger injury.

More than 10,000 Haitians across Ohio and hundreds of thousands more around the country who had Temporary Protected Status now face the imminent prospect of deportation. The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the Trump administration can halt those legal protections for Haitians and Syrians and resume forcing them to leave.

Justice Samuel Alito’s opinion for the court’s Republican-appointed majority curbed the power of courts to review government decisions to terminate protections under the TPS program.

“They side with him on everything that he says or everything that he does, which means there is no check and balance,” said Viles Dorsainvil, a Haitian TPS holder and executive director of the Haitian Support Center in Springfield, a town Trump catapulted into a maelstrom of misinformation about immigrants when he was running to retake the White House in 2024.

“The president has that freeway in front of him to do whatever he wants to do, unfortunately, and most of the time to a minority group of people,” added Dorsainvil, who has lived in the United States since 2020.

In a country rife with political and economic instability, Haitians returning from the U.S. are in danger of being killed or kidnapped, said Dorsainvil’s colleague at the Haitian Support Center, Rose Thamar Joseph.

“There is this perception in Haiti that if you are living here in the United States, you have money, so you are living your good life, so sending people back to Haiti will put them in real danger,” Joseph said.

Staying in the U.S. without legal status creates a different crisis.

“We received calls this morning from people saying that, unfortunately, starting on July 1, they won’t be able to go to work anymore,” Joseph said Friday.

Joseph predicted that families would be separated during the deportation process.

“We know that there will be separation,” she said. “A lot of those parents with TPS … they have kids who were born in the United States, so we know that it will happen, not for everybody, not for all the families, but it will happen,” she said.

The oncoming nightmare for the Haitian community in Springfield was, in many ways, predictable after Trump notoriously targeted them on the debate stage against then-Vice President Kamala Harris in the fall of 2024.

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Oregon Misses Out On Four-Star Offensive Lineman to Ryan Day, Ohio State

Published

1 day ago

June 27, 2026

Press Room

Oregon Misses Out On Four-Star Offensive Lineman to Ryan Day, Ohio State

The Oregon Ducks and coach Dan Lanning have lost out on a top offensive lineman target for their 2027 recruiting class.

On Friday, four-star interior offensive lineman Caden Moss committed to the Ohio State Buckeyes, per On3’s Hayes Fawcett. The 6-5, 320-pound offensive lineman from Jackson Academy in Mississippi chose the Buckeyes over Oregon, Ole Miss, LSU, and Kentucky.

Oregon head coach Dan Lanning walks the field during the Oregon Ducks annual spring game on April 25, 2026 at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon. | Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

In his commitment post on Instagram, Moss said, “Go Bucks, I’m home.” Moss arrives at Ohio State rated as the No. 72 overall player nationally and No. 7 offensive tackle in the 2027 recruiting class, per 247Sports Composite rankings.

How Moss Commitment Impacts Oregon’s 2027 Recruiting Class Ranking

Oregon head coach Dan Lanning attends Oregon Pro Day on March 17, 2026, at the Moshofsky Center in Eugene, Oregon. | Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Despite the loss of Moss to their 2027 recruiting class, the Ducks are ahead of the Buckeyes in the rankings, per 247Sports. The Ducks are No. 6 in the 2027 recruiting class rankings, while the Buckeyes are two spots behind Oregon at No. 8 overall in the country.

The Ducks and Buckeyes, the way things stand at the end of June, have the two best 2027 recruiting classes in the Big Ten and are the only schools from the conference currently ranked inside the top 10. Oregon, however, has four more commits than Ohio State following Moss’ commitment to the Buckeyes on Friday.

The four Big Ten teams behind the Ducks and Buckeyes, but inside the top 20 of the 2027 recruiting class rankings, per 247Sports, include the Penn State Nittany Lions (No. 13), USC Trojans (No. 14), UCLA Bruins (No. 16), and Nebraska Cornhuskers (No. 18).

Oregon and Ohio State’s 2027 recruiting classes are very similar as they both have 11 total blue-chip commits, per 247Sports, including two five-stars and nine four-stars.

Oregon 2027 Offensive Line Commits

Jan 9, 2026; Atlanta, GA, USA; Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning reacts during the first half of the 2025 Peach Bowl and semifinal game of the College Football Playoff against the Indiana Hoosiers at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

While wide receiver Dakota Guerrant and edge rusher Rashad Streets are Oregon’s two five-star commits in the 2027 recruiting class, the Ducks have four offensive line commits despite the loss of Moss to coach Ryan Day and the Buckeyes.

Offensive lineman commits in the Ducks’ 2027 recruiting class include a pair of four-star recruits, Gus Corsair and Cameron Wagner. Three-star commits Avery Michael and Lex Mailangi also highlight the offensive line commits in the Ducks’ 2027 recruiting class.

Over the course of his four seasons as coach of the Ducks, Oregon has been known for its efficient offensive line play, building one of the best groups in the country. In the last four seasons, the Ducks have been the only school to have their offensive line named a semifinalist for the Joe Moore Award.

Jan 1, 2024; Glendale, AZ, USA; Oregon Ducks offensive line coach A’Lique Terry against the Liberty Flames during the 2024 Fiesta Bowl at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports | Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

With the commits in Oregon’s 2027 recruiting class, along with the returners that the Ducks have for the 2026 season, the offensive line looks to continue that trend heading into a year with national championship expectations.

As for the Buckeyes, Ohio State hopes that a dominant offensive lineman can help it continue to be a Big Ten championship and national title contender consistently, as it looks to avenge last season’s loss to the Miami Hurricanes in the CFP Quarterfinal at the Cotton Bowl.

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