Was Travis Perry an Unjust Victim of His Own Hardearned Success?
I am 82 years old and I have followed the cats since the 1951 Big Bill Spivey and Shelby Linville NCAA Championship team. I have experienced all the highs(championship seasons) and the lows (point shaving scandal, 1952-53 suspension, and 89-90 probation ) during the past 75 years. I have also suffered the disappointment of the unexpected loss of some of my favorite players whether through injury, suspension or transfer. Donnis Butcher, Linville Puckett, Sam Bowie, Dwight Anderson and Mickey Gibson are a few of the great players we lost for a season or permanently due to the aforementioned reasons. But the hardest loss for me personally has been the transfer of Travis Perry. Travis is the epitome of what 90% of Ky High School basketball is all about. He was not blessed with many of the physical gifts such as height, quickness, leaping ability which most of the 4 and 5 star high school recruits posess. Despite these shortcomings he scored more points than any Ky basketball player in history and also led a small rural highschool to the Ky State Championship. These outstanding attainments were the direct result of Travis committing to be all he could be and devoting years of practice and hardwork to realizing the goals he set for himself. As a consequence of these acheivements he became the Jimmy Chitwood(Hoosiers Movie) of Ky and his little Lyon county team became the Hickory(Hoosiers and real life Milan, Ind ) state champions.
There are two reasons I have taken his transfer so hard:
First- I started following Travis and Lyon county two years ago when Travis scored over 40 points to beat Reed Sheppard's North Laurel Team. I followed him on UTUBE during the 23 and 24 seasons and saw him play twice in person when Lyon Co won the small high school bracket during the 2023 Palm City classic which is held near my home in Ft Myers. During the games I sat in the Lyon county section and had the priviledge of talking at length with several of the player's families to include Travis's paternal grandmother. They are some of the nicest, most down to earth people I have ever met. During the two games I watched I was struck by the teamwork and superb conditioning of the Lyon Co team. From their fans I learned that the 3 Division 1 players on the team- Travis. Brady Shoulders(Mercer Univ) and Redick(Fla Gulf Coast Univ) had played team basketball together since early grammar school and could anticipate where the other players would be on the court at all times. Lyon Co was the slickest passing team and had the best teamwork I saw in the tournament. I also learned that a retired U.S. army Special Forces(green beret) NCO was responsible for their top notch conditioning. Being an old retired soldier ,I approached the "old Sarge" and he explained to me that he trained them like he would a special forces A team with emphasis on running, endurance and strength training. Lyon county reminded me of the "fiddling five" 1958 NCAA championship team.
Second- Because Travis is a small town native Kentuckian coupled with his unparelled accomplishments as the alltime leading scorer , Mr Basketball and State Tournament Champion he became the Rupp Arena fan favorite. Every time he entered the game in Rupp or scored a point the crowd erupted with cheers louder for Travis than any other UK player. It is my personal opinion, not based on any inside information. that the favortisim shown for Travis by the Ky fans wrankled some of his more talented teamates. I think that some of this resentment spilled over onto the floor and resulted in some of his teammates ignoring Travis when he was open for a shot and instead passing to someone else or driving to the basket often times when there was not an opening. Whether this was a deliberate or subconscise act by his teammates is not clear to me. But it is what I observed as did some other fans with whom i have discussed it. I also believe the teamwork on the 24-25 cats was some of the poorest I have ever seen.
I believe this may have been a factor in his decision to transfer. At Ole Miss he will be just another player not the overwhelming fan favorite that may trigger the envy of his teammates.
I am 82 years old and I have followed the cats since the 1951 Big Bill Spivey and Shelby Linville NCAA Championship team. I have experienced all the highs(championship seasons) and the lows (point shaving scandal, 1952-53 suspension, and 89-90 probation ) during the past 75 years. I have also suffered the disappointment of the unexpected loss of some of my favorite players whether through injury, suspension or transfer. Donnis Butcher, Linville Puckett, Sam Bowie, Dwight Anderson and Mickey Gibson are a few of the great players we lost for a season or permanently due to the aforementioned reasons. But the hardest loss for me personally has been the transfer of Travis Perry. Travis is the epitome of what 90% of Ky High School basketball is all about. He was not blessed with many of the physical gifts such as height, quickness, leaping ability which most of the 4 and 5 star high school recruits posess. Despite these shortcomings he scored more points than any Ky basketball player in history and also led a small rural highschool to the Ky State Championship. These outstanding attainments were the direct result of Travis committing to be all he could be and devoting years of practice and hardwork to realizing the goals he set for himself. As a consequence of these acheivements he became the Jimmy Chitwood(Hoosiers Movie) of Ky and his little Lyon county team became the Hickory(Hoosiers and real life Milan, Ind ) state champions.
There are two reasons I have taken his transfer so hard:
First- I started following Travis and Lyon county two years ago when Travis scored over 40 points to beat Reed Sheppard's North Laurel Team. I followed him on UTUBE during the 23 and 24 seasons and saw him play twice in person when Lyon Co won the small high school bracket during the 2023 Palm City classic which is held near my home in Ft Myers. During the games I sat in the Lyon county section and had the priviledge of talking at length with several of the player's families to include Travis's paternal grandmother. They are some of the nicest, most down to earth people I have ever met. During the two games I watched I was struck by the teamwork and superb conditioning of the Lyon Co team. From their fans I learned that the 3 Division 1 players on the team- Travis. Brady Shoulders(Mercer Univ) and Redick(Fla Gulf Coast Univ) had played team basketball together since early grammar school and could anticipate where the other players would be on the court at all times. Lyon Co was the slickest passing team and had the best teamwork I saw in the tournament. I also learned that a retired U.S. army Special Forces(green beret) NCO was responsible for their top notch conditioning. Being an old retired soldier ,I approached the "old Sarge" and he explained to me that he trained them like he would a special forces A team with emphasis on running, endurance and strength training. Lyon county reminded me of the "fiddling five" 1958 NCAA championship team.
Second- Because Travis is a small town native Kentuckian coupled with his unparelled accomplishments as the alltime leading scorer , Mr Basketball and State Tournament Champion he became the Rupp Arena fan favorite. Every time he entered the game in Rupp or scored a point the crowd erupted with cheers louder for Travis than any other UK player. It is my personal opinion, not based on any inside information. that the favortisim shown for Travis by the Ky fans wrankled some of his more talented teamates. I think that some of this resentment spilled over onto the floor and resulted in some of his teammates ignoring Travis when he was open for a shot and instead passing to someone else or driving to the basket often times when there was not an opening. Whether this was a deliberate or subconscise act by his teammates is not clear to me. But it is what I observed as did some other fans with whom i have discussed it. I also believe the teamwork on the 24-25 cats was some of the poorest I have ever seen.
I believe this may have been a factor in his decision to transfer. At Ole Miss he will be just another player not the overwhelming fan favorite that may trigger the envy of his teammates.
.