Cameron Mills Knows Patience will Pay Off for Trent Noah, Travis Perry

Trent Noah was all smiles after hitting a 3-pointer against Colgate Wednesday. (Vicky Graff Photo)

For many Kentucky basketball fans, Trent Noah hit the kind of shot Wednesday night they had been waiting for all season.

Noah and Travis Perry were Kentucky high school stars at Harlan County and Lyon County. Perry’s team beat Noah’s team in the 2024 state high school championship game. Both were prolific scorers and both guards seem perfect for coach Mark Pope’s system at Kentucky.

Both have played sparingly this season but Noah drilled a 3-pointer Wednesday night when Kentucky unexpectedly really needed it in the second half of a 78-67 win over Colgate. Kentucky was behind until Jaxson Robinson hit consecutive 3-pointers and then Noah made one with 14:03 to play to push the lead to 55-47. Colgate never seriously threatened again.

Noah played 11 points and had one rebound, one assist and the one 3-pointer on two tries. Perry played nine minutes but went 0-for-4 from the field, including 0-for-3 from 3. he had one rebound.

“That is going to be a work in progress. They are super talented players,” Pope said about his two freshmen after the game. “I thought they made solid contributions tonight and it’s hard, you know, you want to get them in the game when there is a real flow to it.  

“Trent probably had a little bit — was in the game when there was a little better vibe.  My favorite part of Trent Noah. This is why I love him so much is he has been in a game a good minute and seven seconds, I’m guessing, something like that. He’s standing right in front of me and I’m like punch it, punch it, throw it in the post. You know, punch it, punch it and he shoots the 3.

“That’s how I know he’s going to be a big-time player. It was a really happy, joyful moment for us.  He’s been playing so well in practice for us and he’s been working so hard and he has no agenda other than to get better every day. I thought he really gave us a boost. In fact, I think he went nine straight minutes, give or take.  The staff was like, we’ve got to get him out of there, he’s at nine.  It’s good, this is how you grow as a team and as individuals.”

Before the game, UK Radio Network analyst Jack Givens predicted Noah would play well because he had been shooting so well in practice and Noah validated what Givens said.

Cameron Mills was not a prolific high school scorer like Noah and Perry. He walked on at Kentucky where his father had played and was on coach Rick Pitino’s 1996 national title team and 1997 national runner-up as well as coach Tubby Smith’s 1998 national championship team.

His advice to Noah and Perry would be to remain patient because Pope, Mills’ teammate at UK, has nine players with way more college experience than they have.

“Mark has made it clear he desperately wants Travis and Trent on the team,” Mills said Thursday on WPBK-FM radio. “They are freshmen. They don’t have the strength, or the experience of the other players. As good as Reed (Sheppard) and Rob (Dillingham) were last year, when we went up against bigger, stronger, older teams we had trouble.

“Travis and Trent just don’t have the body of these older players. But the biggest jump you make in college is your freshman to sophomore year. Their time will come and they will get to be on the court and will produce.

“I didn’t have the talent of Travis or Trent. It took me 2 1/2 years before I got  my chance and I got it because I did what I was told and hung in there. I was not going to transfer. I hope this is how it will work for them because I think they can both be very good players here.”