Mark Pope Believes In Fearless Travis Perry

Travis Perry is Kentucky’s all-time high school scoring leader but UK coach Mark Pope has instilled even more confidence in him. (Vicky Graff Photo)

By LARRY VAUGHT

Before Travis Perry made his first collegiate start at Texas, he got a pep talk from coach Mark Pope that included video clips of what he had done well this season.

“Just kind of reiterating the confidence he has in me to play that role,” Perry said.

The state’s all-time leading high school scorer has been thrust into a much bigger role his freshman season than anticipated because of injuries to Lamont Butler, Jaxson Robinson and Kerr Kriisa.

“He’s fearless and he goes about his business,” Pope said. “He’s going to make some mistakes, because he’s young, and everybody makes mistakes in this game. But, he’s fully capable. He’s unbelievably confident — aggressive. He’s made huge plays in huge games for us.”

Perry is always a fan favorite because of his Lyon County roots along with winning a state high school championship and being named Mr. Basketball after his senior season. However, Pope has held him accountable from day one just like he has the fifth-year players on the team and that has helped Perry.

“I know my confidence has grown a ton.  Just getting more comfortable out there. Filling in a different spot at the college level is a pretty tall task. I’ve been blessed with opportunities, but also cursed with opportunities for our team,” Perry said. “We’ve got guys that are great basketball players that are missing some games. But I think it’s gonna make us better for March.

“For all the guys like me, Trent (Noah) that are getting a lot of minutes now — come March, we’ll be ready, we’ll be confident.  It’s helped me grow into a college basketball player like I need to be.”

Perry committed to Kentucky when John Calipari was still the coach. After Calipari left, Pope reached out and Perry attended Pope’s introductory press conference. It did not take Perry long to make it clear he wanted to play for Pope.

“Off the court, he’s a great dude. He’s always there for you. It’s not always just basketball with him. He talks about family, everything like that,” the UK freshman said.  “On the confidence side of it, that’s something you need from a coach.

“I think anybody needs it from a coach, whether they’re a freshman coming in that is playing extended minutes now because of injuries, or whether it’s a fifth-year guy that’s played and started every game of his career. They still need confidence instilled in them and he does a great job of that.

“He tells us when we mess up and we need to get better. But he also shows us that we’ve done it many times before, and how much confidence he has in us to do it again. So that’s important.”

Perry had 12 points and four steals, both career highs, in UK’s loss at Alabama, and five points in 11 minutes in the win at Oklahoma when Butler and Robinson returned to the lineup.

“Travis is such a baller. He is a guy who a bad play does not affect his next play and that is important for young players to understand,” ESPN analyst Jimmy Dykes said. “Mark Pope says he is the best on the team at flushing out a bad play.”

He’ll likely have to be capable of doing that against No. 1 Auburn today because the Tigers are always a physical, aggressive team and certainly will attack a true freshman point guard.