Kellan Grady will be back playing in Rupp Arena for the first time since his Senior Day game in 2022.
He spent one year in the G League with the Denver Nuggets team (Grand Rapids) and then went overseas last year to play in France.
However, former University of Kentucky player Kellan Grady is coming back to Rupp Arena to play in July and cannot wait to play in front of Big Blue fans again for LaFamilia — Kentucky’s TBT (The Basketball Tournament) team.
Grady started 34 games during the 2021-22 season at Kentucky after transferring from Davidson and averaged 11.4 points per game and shot 41.5 percent from 3-point range. He scored 2,389 points in his collegiate career.
“I am excited to get back and interact with fans and feel like part of BBN again up close and intimately,” Grady said on a Zoom call Tuesday. “I am excited to play with the guys. They have done a great job assembling the team. We can win games and make fans proud of the product. I am excited to play with guys who have gone through the same thing representing Kentucky and giving back to fans.”
Kentucky’s TBT team also includes Marquis Teague, James Young, Willie Cauley-Stein, Doron Lamb, Eric Bledsoe, Andrew Harrison, Daniel Orton, and Reid Travis.
Eight regional sites will host the 64 teams in this year’s TBT bracket. For the fifth straight summer, a winner-takes-all grand prize of $1 million will go to the championship team.
Lexington hosted a regional site in 2019 at Frederick Douglass High School, but this will be the first time it’s held at Rupp Arena from July 19 to 24.
Alumni teams have won TBT’s championship in four of the past five summers, with teams representing Ohio State, Marquette, Syracuse, and the University of Buffalo taking home the $1M prize between 2019-2023.
“The one thing I am most excited about is getting to play in Rupp again. One of our proudest moments (at UK) was going undefeated at home,” Grady said. “I like to shoot there. I am anxious to get back there.”
Grady believes his team has an “incredible chance” to win the tournament.
“I am filled with gratitude to interact with BBN again and play with guys who had a legendary impact on Kentucky basketball,” Grady said. “I was there one year and was honored and privileged to be a part of this.”
So why should fans go to TBT next month to watch LaFamilia play?
“There is no college basketball in the summer. I imagine a lot of people in Lexington miss watching Kentucky basketball,” Grady said. “I think we are going to provide a really good product representing Kentucky and playing for a championship.
“I think we will be exciting to watch. I am excited. I hope we can pack Rupp out as well as win.”
One Response
Many of the talking heads are putting Kentucky as the 7th to 10th best team in the SEC. If that holds to be true, and that’s a BIG if, there is a real good chance of an all SEC Final Four! Go CATS!!!