By LARRY VAUGHT
It may not seem like it but it has now been 11 years since Aaron Harrison had that streak of three straight game-winning shots for Kentucky in NCAA Tournament play that got Kentucky to the national championship game.
It started in the NCAA Sweet 16 when Harrison hit a 3-pointer from the corner with 39 seconds to play to put UK ahead to stay in a 74-69 win over Louisville. The next game against Michigan in the Elite Eight he did it again but this time only 2.3 seconds remained when he connected from deep to give UK a 75-72 win.
But that wasn’t enough. In the Final Four against Wisconsin, he did it with 5.7 seconds to beat the Badgers 74-73.
Lexington Herald-Leader columnist Mark Story ranked those as three of the top 10 clutch shots in Kentucky basketball history and they came in three straight games.
Now Harrison and his twin brother, Andrew, are back playing for LaFamilia, Kentucky’s alumni team playing in the TBT chasing the $1 million purse just like they were as starters for the 2014 and 2015 Final Four teams.
Last year Kentucky had a successful TBT debut that included an intense quarterfinal win over The Ville, Louisville’s alumni team, in front of over 13,000 fans in Freedom Hall — the largest crowd in TBT history.
As entertaining as the June matchup was for both Kentucky and Louisville fans, the intense battle was just as important to the Harrisons.
“I think that was the highlight of the tournament, honestly. That was so much fun,” Aaron Harrison said during a call to promote this year’s event. “As a professional, you don’t really get to play that many games with just pride on the line. It’s about money or whatever.”
This game was different and will be again if both LaFamilia and The Ville
“That was just a pure rivalry, and it was just so much fun to be a part of that again,” Aaron Harrison said. “I think that was just like the highlight of my whole summer. I don’t even think I scored that game, but it was just so much fun, like so much energy in there. Just reminded me of being back in school playing them. It was a lot of fun.”
Playing against the Harrisons has not been fun for Louisville. Kentucky was 3-0 against the Cardinals when the Harrisons were at UK and then the twins helped UK beat the Cards again in the TBT.
“I never played in the NBA Finals, but I think that it may be just as intense,” Aaron said about the rivalry. “I wouldn’t say I would compare the NBA Finals to that, just because it’s not as personal. I think people take it so personal between us and Louisville that I think it’s a different type of intensity.
“I wouldn’t compare it to anything, honestly. I think it’s right up there with any rivalry in sports, any two groups of people that don’t like each other. It’s one of the better rivalries in the world, I think.”
If the teams do advance and play again this summer, the game once again will be in Freedom Hall because The Ville presold 4,000 TBT tickets faster than any other team to earn hosting rights.
And if the rematch does happen, Kentucky will be just as inspired to win again as ever.
“Guys that I played with on my team, for the most part, have never lost to Louisville,” Andrew Harrison said. “I think that we want to keep it that way. Keep the dominance going.”
“We’re focused on winning though, we’re not focusing on them,” Aaron Harrison added. “They might not make it to where we are.”
Kentucky will host the Lexington Regional July 18-22 but this year it will be in Memorial Coliseum, not Rupp Arena. The TBT quarterfinals will be July 29, semifinals July 31 and the $1 million championship game Aug. 3.
Andrew Harrison averaged 11.6 points per game in TBT play last year and hit the game-winning 3-pointer against The Ville in the quarterfinals. Aaron Harrison averaged 7.0 points per game and knocked down three or more 3-pointers in multiple games during the 2024 TBT.
Once Ansley Almonor decided to transfer from Fairleigh Dickinson to Kentucky for his senior basketball season, Andreya Flores knew she was going to follow her boyfriend to Lexington.
Flores, a California native, had been a three-year starter on the Fairleigh Dickinson softball team but had her career ended her junior season in 2024 by a knee injury.
They are both “big sports fans” who thought they understood the passion of Kentucky basketball fans when they came to UK but were still surprised at the support BBN provided.
“We knew Lexington bled blue and that basketball was a huge part of fans’ lives which is a little different from where I am from. We have a lot of professional teams (In California) and I am a huge (Los Angeles) Angels fan and have been going to games since I was a little girl,” Flores said. “However, I never experienced love like this for a college team.
“It was quite an experience this year to see how much Kentucky fans care about basketball and we really embraced that. It makes it a whole lot easier to play for someone when you know this (basketball) is their life.”
Flores did an interview on X (formerly Twitter) with some fans before Almonor committed to Kentucky and got “some good, some bad” reaction.
“But here fans have always welcomed me. They were always checking on me and offering to help if I needed it,” she said. “And the fans definitely loved him which has been awesome.
“You can tell fans appreciate his attitude. He came from a school (Fairleigh Dickinson) where you are the guy and now he just has to embrace a team role. He did that to the best of his ability.
“He didn’t complain about anything. He didn’t even complain to me. He is very grateful to God for just the opportunity to be at Kentucky. If something did not go his way, he just says it is God’s plan and goes about his business.”
Almonor graduated from UK last week — “I always wanted to be a kid that was able to play for Kentucky. To say I’m an alumni from this university, it’s a great feeling” — and now is ready to start training for what professional basketball opportunities might arise.
“I am going to California for an internship and then we will reconnect wherever he goes and let him follow his dream,” Flores said.
The University of Kentucky placed life-sized statues outside of Commonwealth Stadium to honor the first four African-American players — Nate Northington, Greg Page, Wilbur Hackett and Houston Hogg — to play football at the school.
Recently Tom Leach, play-by-play voice on the UK Radio Network for Kentucky football and basketball, suggested on “The Leach Report” that it might be time for basketball to do something similar after a history lesson from former UK All-American Jack Givens, his partner on UK basketball broadcasts.
Givens was sharing memories of his former UK teammate Larry Johnson after Johnson’s passing. He talked about what Johnson meant on and off the court to him and others in the 1970’s at UK.
“One of the things I talked about in my book (They Call Me Goose: My Life in Kentucky Basketball and Beyond) was a very historic moment for Kentucky basketball. It probably doesn’t mean anything now but back in those days when we were here it meant a lot,” Givens told Leach.
During Givens’ sophomore season in 1975-76, Kentucky played five African-American players — Johnson, Givens, James Lee, Reggie Warford and Merion Haskins — at the same time. It was the first time that had ever happened.
“I know today that does not probably seem like much but it was then. Times were changing and changing in a positive way,” Givens said. “But to be able to say it was the first at anything like that was hugely important in Kentucky basketball history. LJ (Larry Johnson) was a part of that, so I just thought I would throw in that significant moment in UK basketball history.”
Leach called it “tremendously significant” when he suggested a statue would be a fitting tribute. He also pointed out it recognized a wide area since Givens and Lee were from Lexington while Johnson from Morganfield, Haskins from Campbellsville and Warford from Drakesboro. Warford was also the first African-American basketball player to graduate from UK.
Former Kentucky cornerback Maxwell Hairston admitted after the Buffalo Bills made him a first-round NFL draft pick that his idol for a long time had been Jalen Ramsey, a seven-time Pro Bowl cornerback Jalen Ramsey who he could now compete against.
Hairston said there was one thing he always loved about Ramsey’s play.
“I love Jalen Ramsey because he plays with so much swagger. You knew he was that guy. You knew not to try him. And I just want to be able to go out there with that same confidence, knowing that if you come at me, it’s not 50-50, that’s my ball,” Hairston said.
“I’m the type of player where I think I have to catch like a receiver because when that ball is in the air, I’m gonna adjust like a receiver and take it back to the house (end zone). And my mindset when I do get an interception is score, make it easy on the offense.”
Hairston returned three of his six interceptions at Kentucky for touchdowns to tie the school record set by Dallas Owens from 1974-77.
The Kentucky standout knows he is fortunate to be playing for Buffalo, a Super Bowl contender led by quarterback Josh Allen. He’ll also rejoin running back Ray Davis, who made a big impression at Buffalo as a rookie in 2024.
“I feel like this team is a Super Bowl ready team, and we’re gonna go out there and attack it. I actually got to watch them play when they came to Detroit (last year). Ray Davis gave me some tickets, and I saw Josh Allen go out there and put on a master class,” Hairston said.
“I was like, ‘Hey, I wouldn’t mind that being my quarterback.’ I’m super excited and super prepared to get to work with him.”
Quote of the Week: “I never got to watch my dad play, but he was still moving very quickly on the court against his kids in his 40s and 50s, so I can only imagine how quick he was in college. RIP to my amazing dad. He will always be the greatest in my eyes,” Laurie Estridge on the passing of her father Larry Johnson, one of the first African-American players to play at Kentucky.
Quote of the Week 2: “I’m all in. I have one more year of eligibility, but my goal is to play in the NBA, so I’m not doing this process one foot in, one foot out,” Kentucky junior Otega Oweh to Aaron Fentress of OregonLive on his NBA tryout process.
Quote of the Week 3: “Why is Kentucky-Louisville on a Tuesday night in early November? This has Saturday prime time December basketball written all over it. November 11 is the first game of the season for both teams,” Hall of Fame sportswriter Dick “Hoops” Weiss on the early season date for the Battle of the Bluegrass.