Travis Perry spent last season playing for Mark Pope. Next year he will play against UK. (Vicky Graff Photo
For those who wondered what Travis Perry would do when he decided to leave Kentucky, we now have the answer.
After speculation had been that Ole Miss was the leader before Maryland made an unbelievable offer to Perry and then Vanderbilt was reported to be the leader.
Mississippi was probably the second choice behind Kentucky when Perry, Kentucky’s all-time high school scoring leader with 5,841 points, signed with Kentucky. This time, though, the former Kentucky Mr. Basketball has opted to play for coach Chris Beard at Mississippi.
The 6-1 Perry entered the transfer portal on April 22 just before the deadline after UK added Florida guard Denzel Aberdeen.
Perry, a top 100 prospect coming out of high school, averaged 2.7 points and 9.8 minutes per game over 31 appearances last season. He made four starts after injuries to Kerr Kriisa, Lamont Butler and Jaxson Robinson and played well at times. However, Perry didn’t play in UK’s last two NCAA Tournament games after suffering a wrist injury in the SEC Tournament.
Cats Pause published Darrell Bird asked Beard about Perry when both UK and Ole Miss were playing NCAA Tournament games in Milwaukee over a month before Perry entered the transfer portal.
“I love Travis,” Beard said. “He’s one of those guys that’s addicted to basketball; loves it. Basketball guy. I enjoyed recruiting him, getting a relationship with his family.
“In recruiting, you don’t get so many more guys than you do get. But I was really happy for him that he found a great fit and played a great role as a freshman for coach (Mark) Pope’s team.
“He’s a guy I always cheer for and have nothing but respect for. That dude’s a baller, man. He loves basketball.”
Now he’s going to be a “baller” for Ole Miss where he obviously has to think he will get more playing time than he likely would have in UK’s new backcourt barring injuries like last year’s team endured.
Ole Miss reached the NCAA Sweet 16 last season for just the second time in school history. The Rebels went 24-12 overall and 10-8 in SEC games during the regular season.
Beard has signed small forward AJ Storr (Kansas), forward Augusto Cassia (Butler), power forward Corey Chest (LSU), combo guard Koren Johnson (Louisville) and Perry (Kentucky) from the transfer portal after losing shooting guard TJ Caldwell and guard Robert Cowherd in the transfer portal along with two forwards. Ole Miss also recently added French guard Ilias Kamardine.
Kentucky should host Ole Miss in Rupp Arena this season.
21 Responses
Hope he does well.
What was the NIL for this?
Can Beard coach up his defense? Will he become a designated shooter at the 2 spot?
Hate to see the kid leave because good Ky kid, but you can’t blame him bc he saw even more limited PT with our new additions. Hope he personally does well when we meet up with him but still willing to take the L home.
I’ve talked to people up here that don’t even know that Illinois and Missouri borders Kentucky. It’s hard for a kid from down there to come up here to the biggest stage in college basketball. He did the best that he could filling in for Butler this past season. West Kentucky was and still is proud of him. After basketball he will have a life that I could only dream of. No one is a bigger Travis Perry fan than me.
But, now he’s not on my team anymore. If he doesn’t play better defense than he did this past season, Aberdeen and Lowe will destroy him when the Woke Rebels (Landsharks) come to Lexington this winter.
Travis did what he thought best for him. I heard that he tripled his NIL$. GOOD for him.
Wish him success.
Can only wish the best for him.. Would rather see a Ky kid do well at home but if there was to be no playing time for him how much was he gonna help us and the end of the day.. And apparently the coach’s felt they needed someone who could help them… Larry I would like your thoughts on this since your a lot closer to the program that we are plus I value your opinion.. Thanks Ray
One other thing I remember a time when a true Ky kid would rather sit the bench at you UK than ever go anywhere else.. Thanks Ray
How about the commitment from 7’1" Lexington native Reece Potter? He will better than what everyone assumes. He has made great improvements on his game. He also shot the 3 at 39.3% if he can improve on his shooting which he will he could carve out a small role this year and be in a even bigger role as a senior. He’s a average rebounder and if I could say anything about his game is that he gives 100% effort. He’s actually very athletic for someone as big as he is. Potter and Moreno will battle it out for backup minutes. Potter is a little stronger than Moreno. So they should battle in practice making both of them better. This was a very smart move because Potter is a stretch 4 he isn’t a true center. He would play the same role that Carr played last year. He’s actually a better 3 point shooter compared to Carr and he’s a little more athletic. Potter is a very hard worker a gym rat so he’s going to push all the bigs because he might take there minutes. This was a strategically made move and very very important. I’m not saying it happens but what happens if JQ never fully heals and sits on the bench all year similar to what Sharpe did a couple years back? Then all of a sudden we are not as deep as we once thought we were. Next years tournament will be exactly one year since he had surgery. With Garrison, Croatian, Mo D, Moreno, and Potter we will be a ok now in the post. That’s 5 capable bigs and you could also throw Noah and Williams in there. Imagine this lineup of small ball and shooters if we get behind. Johnson/Chandler/Noah/Williams/Mo-D. If you needed to score 12 very quick points. All 5 can shoot the 3 and is probably our best shooters.
This move makes a ton of sense. Ole Miss only has 4 guards on the team and that’s including Travis Perry. So it was a smart move as far as playing time goes and Beard is a defensive specialist so Perry will improve on his defense. He could be a completely different player by the time the sec schedule rolls around. One thing is for sure he will get at least double the playing time he would have gotten this year at Kentucky and I think that is what was most important for Travis. I don’t blame him one bit for leaving you can shoot 1,000 shots everyday but nothing helps you more as a player then to play live basketball you can’t simulate it. He will be much better going into his junior year having actually played a year of basketball. I think he eventually comes back to Kentucky. Maybe his senior year or maybe even next year but I think the road doesn’t stop in oxford.
Nice post.& comments.
As much as I have followed UK & UK only since the early 1950’s, and had such a strong desire to get my Chemical Engineering degree at UK… even turned down an offer from Union Carbide to pay my final year of tuition, allowing time to go to college, while working as an engineer because of very big success during the 3 to 6 month stints working as an engineer co-op student in a program improvised by me (for me only), I had to turn it down just to get to see UK BB for one more season before graduating.
So, even as big of a fan as I am and for so long – enjoying National Champions so many years and other big runs to the Finals & FF & even E-8 runs – I am now totally disgusted seeing Perry (and Noah) riding the bench far too much! So, my loyalty is waning as I will be pulling for Perry more than any UK player other than Noah, and pulling for Ole Miss when Perry is lighting up the scoreboard as he should have had the opportunity to do his freshmen year.
The NCAA mishandled college BB for decades and now that has come back to haunt the college gwme with transfers and NIL bidding wars ruling the game. It’s now a thug-fest with no semblance of BB as the great players played the game. Wilt, Oscar, Weat, Rick Barry, Wes Unseld, Pistol Pete & many more played by the rules. They ALL knew how to dribble without palming or literally carrying the ball under their arm – the real college game is gone. Can’t fake it.
Looks like KSR was right about Ole Miss. I still say Perry wanted guaranteed playing time and probably more money. Chandler played in 30 games and logged 313 min. Perry played in 31 games with 304 min. logged. Noah played in 24 games with 267 min. logged. What did he have to complain about? Could’nt take the competition? He’s not athletic enough to play meaningful minutes in the SEC. Going to Ole Miss won’t change that.
They will have to play zone and have Perry float on the arc for kickouts when others drive.
Jimmy, i don’t know where you got the idea that he was guaranteed playing time or wanted more money. People like you what may have drove him off with the negative talked about him. In time he will prove you wrong that he can’t play in SEC . Some of our fan base just couldn’t let him grow to get better at UK.
Thanks, Cats79 for clearing up the “fake news” about Perry. He wanted to PLAY FOR UK. How many guys besides Noah of those left want to PLAY 100% FOR UK instead of mostly for themselves!
I said he wanted guaranteed time. Not that he was guaranteed time. Ok, why did he leave? Money? Playing time?Pope? Broke up with his girlfriend? What was it 79? His speed and athleticism are what they are. Time will tell.
Even in a zone I see the Cats guards blowing by him into the paint, then hitting floaters or throwing lobs. Perry hit 18 of 56 three point shots and 25 of 80 overall. He had 18 assists and 21 turnovers. I hope he does great, but I just don’t see it.
The leading scorer in KY HS history should have been a key shooter starting with game 1. After Pope made so many supporting comments about Perry making 100 FT in a row & 500 of 600 from 3-land, there was reason to espect to see UK utilize Perry’s shooting skills. Adolph Rupp knew how to use Ronnie Lyons (5’-9” ?) and Terry Mills. Pitino knew how to use Cameron Mills, Travis Ford & Richie Farmer, Chris Lofton made UK pay for being shunned by loser TLT.
Coaches prove their premier coaching ability when they set plays to maximize use of talent instead of trying to te-shape a player to fit into the coach’s offense.
With 15 to 20 minutes each of the first 5 to 10 games, Perry would have been a highlight reel maiming 3’s. Sporadic PT will not produce the best a player has to offer.
Beard will use an offense which will set Perry up for his dynamic 3. For anyone to point out FG % when a player hardly gets enough minutes to break a sweat is weak – very weak.
Sadly, this reminds me of the pseudo-coach who did all he could to shatter the confidence of Dontae Allen after he went ballistic bringing UK back from a deficit on the road .to win an SEC game.
UK seldom played a zone D. Yet Jim Bobeim played zone 40 minutes a game and did very well. Even Adolph Rupp used the 1-3-1 zone to maximize the benefits of each player’s talent on offense.
This major UK BB fan over 3/4 century, having traveled to regular season road games & NCAA Tournament games is now pulling for Travis Perry and Noah. I wish both of them the best. When they meet, I hope the player who has played the most minutes during the season leads his team to the win. It’s Perry & his teammates vs Noah & his teammates, all the 1& transfer again players with zero ties to Kentucky won’t even remember who they players for because they will change teams so often.
Perry did not leave. He was shoved out by not getting the chance to adapt to college in those first 5 or 10 games when UK routed teams by 30 to 40 points.
History is about to repeat itself when Perry returns to Rupp Arena and reminds UK fans of Chris Lofton leading TN over UK.
I’ve been a Pope fan since day 1, but will settle back and let the players wearing UK on their jersey for one season do just as they did last season – forget TEAM BALL FIRST after some of them felt they had kicked up starting jobs and lots of PT.
UK lost most games because of selfish play rising up in some players. The A:TO ratio in those games reveals who “forgot” to play team ball. Scoring a lot of points is not the only key stat when playing TEAM BALL FIRST .
To those few who have made nasty comments about Perry, and about me when I was supporting Perry, no need to waste your time again. I now read very little about UK BB.
Talking about running players off! The Big Boohoo Nation has ran off plenty of players the last several years. Perry couldn’t take the heat. Noah played a lot less than Perry. He’s not running away and his position has plenty of competition. Now people are mad because Pope didn’t bend over backwards to keep him. Doesn’t seem like a man that does that. If Perry wanted to be AT UK, he’d be there. Pope did the right thing for the team. Like it or not. People who think Perry should have played over the other players last year are hilarious. He couldn’t play over the ones coming in next year either.
Your opinion is as solid as whiffle ball.
Attacking players & those who comment because you don’t understand the complete picture is not merited.
Perry will show why he should have been playing 15 to 20 minutes in the early games to transition to college ball and then the “debates” can end.
ROFLMFAO. There is irony here!!!!