La Familia’s road to the title game of The Basketball Tournament 2026 was a rocky and unexpected one — not because this group was incapable, obviously, but rather the adversity it faced before the run even began. Going in, Kerr Kriisa, Reid Travis and Quade Green were all announced as key additions, along with a late insurance add with Marcus Lee. That four-man group combined to play exactly zero minutes for the Kentucky alums, for reasons ranging from apparent back injuries to personal conflicts to FBI arrests.

Through all of the chaos, La Familia GM Twany Beckham did his best to add reinforcements, but the final result was a shorthanded group that did its best to stay healthy and fight through fatigue.

“I just want to kind of tell everybody, man — because I see the comments. Everybody throws out this name and that name, and I just want people to know, my staff and everybody that’s helping us, we reach out to everybody that could possibly come out and play,” Beckham said. “I would never throw a guy under the bus for not showing up because I understand these guys got families, they got children, a lot of them have been across the water all year, so they got two months off. It’s tough.

“So everybody throws out certain names that we should have playing. Trust me, I have been on the phone with every single one of those guys, and it’s a process. Some people are at certain points in their careers where they can do it, and some people aren’t.”

That group somehow managed to win a best-of-three series against The Ville, then notched single-elimination victories over Boeheim’s Army and JHX Hoops to win the alumni title and advance to the event championship.

Then they were 14 missed free throws away from bringing home the trophy and winning $2 million.

It was a heartbreaking finish, but considering La Familia has reached two Final Fours in three years since starting in 2024, it’s impossible to say the team is anything but ahead of schedule.

“I’m excited about how far we’ve come from year one to year three. We’re not going to go anywhere,” Beckham said. “I know that team (Davis Steel), it took them 13 or 14 years before they finally won a championship. So, I mean, you’ve got to build, but I’m excited about the people I have around, the people that have supported this. It’s been fun, and I’m super excited about where we can go forward.”

Archie Goodwin was the star, while Willie Cauley-Stein, Andrew Harrison, Kahlil Whitney and DeAndre Liggins contributed in their own ways throughout the tournament. The same can be said for new friends of the program, “portal” additions Darryl Morsell, Chris Coffey, Sean McNeil and James Mainor-Bell.

They didn’t have much depth, probably could’ve used some shot-makers and youth, but they made the most of it.

If they were this close to pulling it off, what happens when the roster vision actually comes together?

“I feel like I’m an incredible talent evaluator. I feel like I build really good rosters,” Beckham said after the 67-59 loss. “Like, today, we were a quarter away, I think, in turning the game around and winning the championship. We’ll take some time to kind of breathe a little bit with everything going on, and then get back at it. I’m a super, super, ultra competitor, so this hurts, but we will be back.”

Does this event result help Beckham’s recruiting pitch moving forward, knowing they nearly won the whole thing amid countless speed bumps and roadblocks, with others previously uncertain now willing to give it a shot?

What if I told you those players are already reaching out to the La Familia GM wanting to participate in 2027?

“I think it does (help with recruiting). These guys, I mean, they’ve been watching it for three years. Guys have seen how incredible what we’re doing and what we do here is. But, again, a lot of it is based on those guys’ schedules, so guys can kind of see and look — I’ve been getting texts all week. All the guys that I’ve reached out to have been watching, which is great.

“A lot of it comes down to a lot of factors with their schedules and their families and all of that. So, hoping we can turn the corner and get some names that a lot of people in this fanbase would want us to have. But until then, we’re gonna keep putting our best foot forward and trying to build a championship team.”