Travis Perry led Lyon County to the 2024 state high school championship and was also named Kentucky’s Mr. Basketball. (Larry Vaught Photo)
By LARRY VAUGHT
Travis Perry told Griffin McVeigh, Ole Miss beat writer for On3, that it was a “difficult decision” when he decided to enter the transfer portal and leave Kentucky after his freshman season.
Kentucky coach Mark Pope said at the time he was “devastated” by Perry’s decision because of what he thought he could do at UK. However, Kentucky’s all-time leading high school scorer and 2024 Mr. Basketball felt it was a decision he had to make.
“It’s a difficult decision for anybody to get in the portal,” Perry told McVeigh. “Just felt like, at the end of the day, you’ve got to make the best decision for yourself and your basketball career.
“You only get so much time to do it, only so much time to play basketball. So felt like I decided that myself, my family, and felt it was best for my basketball career.”
It was no surprise that Perry ended up at Ole Miss with coach Chris Beard because he almost committed to Ole Miss coming out of Lyon County.
“I felt like Coach Beard’s vision was exactly what I was looking for,” Perry said. “I felt like we had a lot of guys coming here that wanted to win, wanted to compete at a high level. I feel like I could come in and impact that.”
Beard complimented Perry before last year’s NCAA Tournament and pursued him harder than any other coach after Perry went into the transfer portal.
5 Responses
One of the biggest losses in UK history.
Al-time leading scorer breaking the legendary King Kelly Coleman’s record, and he hardly played until it was essential due to injuries that he had to play against 3 top notch opponents without much experience before then.
With all the talk about Perry making 500 out of 600 threes & hitting 100 consecutive FT’s, it was so much said I expected to see him getting 20 min a game against the cupcakes early in the season.
I’m very disappointed and think UK BB has lost its “Kentucky” part of UK by depending on portals hoping from team to team without any real interest or connection to UK.
To those who want to slam me for my opinion, go take a hike. After Perry gets a lot of minutes and has set plays and screens for 3’s at Ole Miss, the value of Perry will be revealed just as Chris Lofton had to go to TN to showcase his superior shooting skills & BB skills in general.
I like Pope and sorry he missed taking advantage of a tremendous shooter who can mail free throws in crunch time & hit 3’s with amazing g accuracy. The few minutes he played did not give him a chance to shoot enough to get in a rhythm.
Reed Sheppard faced a similar situation in his 1st year in rhe pros. He never got to ply much. Then he wa sent to the G-League to get some playing time for 3 games and average about 30 ppg including one game with 39 points. But he never got the minutes to showcase his talent when he returned to Houston.
I do believe we haven’t seen the last of Travis Perry at Kentucky. I think he stays a season or 2 at Ole Miss but decides to ultimately come back. He’s doing what’s best for him. If I was him I would do the same thing but I would have went to Iowa or Purdue. Nothing racial but those programs know how to utilize that white guys. Purdue and Iowa both start usually 4 or 5 white guys and I just think Perry’s game would be better utilized in a conference that loves to set picks for there shooters and you never see them as a transitional team. They slow it down and run plays and usually run a zone defense. This would have bee perfect for Travis but I think he felt more comfortable with Beard. Beard is why he loved ole miss now and in high school. Problem is Beard is a defensive coach. I don’t know how that plays out with Perry. I think he would have been a great player for Creighton as well. Who have been a great team the last 10 or so years. McDermott would have utilized Perry the right way too. Beard is a head scratcher to me but to Perry it makes sense?
You make valid points – all of them!
I think Beard told Perry the offense will have set plays, screens, picks, plays that give him the chance to lob to the big men (he & Garrison always connected setting up each other).
Duke also has a history of “allowing”
White guys to play BB. There was a player (Kinnard ?) in Dayton, Ohio several years ago whose family had a life-long live for & connection with UK, but went to Duke where he starred and is now a consistent sub for years in the NBA. A great shooter, just like others like McDermitt.
So, yes, the SEC which is a thug league promoting street ball with no rules played in a big arena is a poor choice for anyone who can play the real game of BB without pushing, shoving, grabbing, holding.
The pros set the stage and when real BB (Wilt the greatest of all-time, Oscar – a Triple-Doublr machine who mastered every aspect of the game, Larry Bird – work ethic prevails, Pistol Pete – doing magic with the ball without palming or carrying it under his arm for 3 to 5 steps, and many other old timers who played real BB. The Jordan days is when the refs began to let rules of real slide. I remember saying he and Bill Russel (another great) would not have allowed Jordan to drive, drive, drive and get shots inside. I agree.
I have lost a lot of interest in UK BB and BB in general after the switch to SEC style thug ball. Transfers who are in Lexington for 6 months are far from real UK players.
Perry will be amazing this year, but would have excelled beyond imagination at Iowa, Creighton or some of the others who still play BB.
He is gone all about the money! Good luck to him .
The thoughts and comments are funny….as if no one researched Coach Beards successes with similar sized players like Travis. People wanna say he got beat off the dribble….so did tons of Guards in SEC all year. U think the Florida Guard didn’t beat SEC guards off the dribble. Did u forget Travis shot 38ish percent from the 3 in SEC play? What about Beards scheme for Defense?…….seems Pedulla and Juju while small played pretty good D. Maybe Beard is a better coach than Pope…..wait I’m sure of that!! Beards credentials and successes speak for themselves. Also, all the Power 4 coaches that wanted Travis at big deals can’t all be wrong. 3 coaches come to mind Ole Miss, Vandy and Maryland…..all of whose coaches beat the UK team this season. I don’t say any of this as a slam but a defense of a great young man and player. Many many many comments are from people who have NO basketball knowledge and a bias opinion too large to see maybe Travis did the best for him and maybe Pope miscalculated what he had in Travis. I mean he was just a freshman and his performance was pretty good and one of his best performances at Bama was against 2 very good guards and he held his own. I’m a Rebel who is Super glad to have Travis and Coach Beard. Both UK and Ole Miss should be very good next year. Best wishes!