But it's pretty telling that he didn't bother to put one out.
Was Travis Perry the Victim of His own Hardearned Success
- Thread starter tug15
- Start date
Nothing against the OP as it's just his opinion. I'm not as old as the OP but I've been around long enough to see some very good UK Trans and players and Offer is way down the list to me. He did well in HS but, as many have pointed out, his records were for playing 6 seasons versus the very great majority of kids who only play 4 seasons. That makes a huge difference in setting records. He is small of stature, very slow, limited athleticism and can't play D1 defense at all. As to last year's team, they played remarkable teamwork and I never had the impression they were jealous of Perry or intentionally tried to keep the ball out of his hands. They were a very tough team not to love. All other UK fans I talked with felt the same way. Not sure which fans the OP spoke with but I never heard of saw anything like that. I have season tickets and watched every game and never saw anything like what the OP suggested.
I saw "King" Kelly Coleman play many times for Ky Wesleyan. He could have played anywhere if his mind could have been right.
I think he set the prior state record in 3 years.
Not one to knock current or former players but he shot 31% from the floor and was given opportunities to prove himself, he just couldn't play up to the level of competition or talent that was on the floor.
Drop Perry off in any any major inner city school district, say like Chicago. Where the level of basketball is much, much higher than it was in the mountains of Kentucky. Do you think he scores 5k total and wins Mr. Basketball. I don't think he would... He would have been a middle to lower end player, and never would have gotten the ball the amount of time he did in Kentucky.
Even put him on a team in Kentucky where his daddy ain't the coach and the results are probably a lot less.
Honestly, after seeing these threads, I'm happy he left.
This could be Dontaie Allen on steroids. "hE wAS mR. kENtuCKy bASKeTbALL!" Why won't Pope play the Kentucky boy? Does Pope hate Kentucky kids? Perry needs more minutes to get into a shooting rhythm. Pope played him out of position last year.
This could be Dontaie Allen on steroids. "hE wAS mR. kENtuCKy bASKeTbALL!" Why won't Pope play the Kentucky boy? Does Pope hate Kentucky kids? Perry needs more minutes to get into a shooting rhythm. Pope played him out of position last year.
It's not a foregone conclusion that he's gonna get more PT there. He's still gonna be a bit undersized and unathletic PG in the SEC.
I would not be shocked if he’s back in the portal this time next year.
I’m so glad you weren’t around when Farmer, Pelphrey and Feldhaus came through. I’m sure you would have felt the same about them as underclassmen.
This reads like you don't understand context.
I didn't make a thread to bash Travis Perry. I responded to the idea that he's a good player that got shafted because other players were jealous of him. The reality is that Travis isn't good enough to play here today.
Your response to me saying Perry isn't that good is to say "Well what about these other guys who stayed and earned their minutes?!" That kind of proves the point, doesn't it? Travis Perry isn't willing to stay and earn minutes like each of those guys did.
I didn't post saying "Let's run the kid off." But I certainly don't think there's any reason to think he's some victim. Just like Farmer, Pelphrey and Feldhaus weren't victims when they didn't play a ton as freshmen. They just went out and earned their minutes.
If Perry wanted to stay and prove he deserves minutes--I'm fine with that. But he didn't. So let's NOT compare him to guys that did that.
Here's the scoring averages for those three Unforgettables as freshman:
Farmer, 3.1 ppg
Feldhaus, 3.6 ppg
Pelphrey, 1.7 ppg
Perry averaged 2.7 ppg as a freshman.
Three of those guys stayed and fought for minutes, worked hard, improved year-over-year, and weren't scared of the recruits Pitino was bringing in. Perry took off on his own accord, so it's kind of unfair to compare Perry to Farmer, Feldhaus and Pelphrey.
Perry isn’t a point guard, especially against the freak athletes in the SEC, he played some point out of absolute necessity this past season. He’s a shooter or was in high school. It will be hard for him to shoot and score against bigger faster players. I want the best players we can get on our roster! I don’t care where they are from! Our fans and I’m including myself have always expected to much from the instate players.
Never expected Perry to ever transfer after being a legend in Ky HS basketball, figured he would be at Ky for 4 years , he played alot last year.
Those guys actually redshirt also, taking the necessary time to improve.
Those guys didnt quit like Perry. They stayed and evolved into the unforgettable
But would they have stayed if they played in today’s mass free agency era? I doubt it. And Perry probably would’ve stayed if he played back then.
The sport has changed SO dramatically …with today’s players having such a totally different mindset about transferring …that I’m not sure if it’s even fair to make those comparisons now.
Well reasoned post, given what you think you observed, but I think it's not Travis' 'hard-earned success' that is the reason, but instead should be what it is for many things-
Location, location, location
He was raised in Kentucky, but he just couldn't handle that spotlight.
Some people feed off of it and some don't. Tbh it has never mattered to me either way. If I have a spotlight, fine. If I don't, fine. I'm not changing for it, but I'm not going to run from it either. I don't get his decision to leave, but I'm fine with it because it's his decision.
If he got advice to leave, then he's getting bad advice likely from someone wanting to line their own pockets at his expense. That's a good lesson to learn early, so if that is the case he'll be far better for learning it now than some who learn it after they lose ten million years later. If he got money, I hope he got REAL money. You've got to take it if you can get it when you're a backup, role player.
Now, Flanders leaving Arkansas totally makes sense. He's got to find coaching and discipline, which he didn't get last year and won't get now that his freshman year is over - unless he leaves Arkansas. The writing is on the wall for him, different than it was for Perry. I hope Perry figures it out and has some success. Kudos to him for realizing his limitations, if that's what inspired him to leave.
Someone else will step up and handle that spotlight at some point.
(I still think Ole Miss initiated this whole thing, and tampered, but that doesn't matter to the NCAA because they stopped giving a sht many years ago.)
Last edited:
I agree with you the game has evolved so much n 35 years they probably wouldn't have had the success they ended up with then. Idk if they would have stayed or not.
For every Ron Mercer, there's at least three Josh Carriers. Brandon Stockton, Jon Hood, etc.
It happens.
It happens.
If the portal was around in 1996, I think Jeff Sheppard would have left when he was asked to redshirt.
Yep, a lot of our past greats would’ve likely transferred if they played today.
Tony Delk is another example that comes to mind. He’s admitted he considered it after his freshman year. If he could’ve done it as easily (and profitably) as you can today, he likely would’ve been gone.
But, on the flip side, we could’ve replaced them with star transfers lured from other teams with big NIL offers. That Laettner shot never happens if Shaq is added to our roster!
Your points are all correct.
Perry's experience is as a shooting guard. He's probably more comfortable playing that position. But some people on this board have acted like he was set up to fail being asked to play PG instead of SG.
1. He's not big enough to play SG in the SEC. He already can't guard Ziggler or Sears. He certainly can't guard 6'4, 6'5, 6'6 shooting guards in the SEC.
2. What happened to doing what it takes to help the team? A lot of guys that grew up as shooting guards welcome the chance to handle the ball.
Now people are acting like Perry was put in a bad position?
I agree with your ultimate point as well. I don't actually care where the kids were born or where they played last year. If Aberdeen was the straw that broke the camel's back so to speak, cool. I'd rather have Aberdeen.
It's like eating an ice cream sundae. Winning is the ice cream and the hot fudge. Having Kentucky kids is a cherry on top. No one ever threw their sundae out because they forgot the cherry. But you wouldn't be happy if they skipped the ice cream.
I didn't see what you are saying you saw at all. You suggest that he was "frozen" out by his teammates when he was open, normally when he was in the game he was the PG and primary ball handler.
Perry decided to leave. Pope didn't show him the door. I'm sad that he left as a fellow 2nd Region'er, but leaving is his choice.
Perry decided to leave. Pope didn't show him the door. I'm sad that he left as a fellow 2nd Region'er, but leaving is his choice.
Ron Mercer is not from Kentucky, lol
Either his seemingly nice teammates who seemed to love being here and only said nice things about perry iced him? Or a slow unathletic PG who is known for 3 point shooting shot barely 30% and couldnt guard anyone just was unplayable....its hard to say what happened really.....need more threads discussing it
You could tell from the get go that Trent Noah is a much better player than Perry. That's what happens when Daddy gets to coach you throughout high school and you can take any shot you want without repercussions. Even Perry's ball handling sucks for a guy his height. What did he even work on? Shooting over 6 foot and under unathletic white dudes isn't a recipe for success.
I noticed this as well. Noah looked and played like he belonged out there. He isn’t afraid to mix up.
Perry looked like he was going to soil himself a few times when he checked in.
And to the “he was out of position” people, name the last super successful 6’1 SG in the SEC without a 40-inch vertical, super quick release or arms length of someone who is 6’6 (Delk). If Perry wants to play at this level or professionally, he needs to learn PG. High school is over.
It's a bizarre decision but Travis had plenty of opportunity to prove himself this year. I never saw one thing to indicate there was bad chemistry between him and his teammates. He was never exceptional but he could have been a big piece by his junior or senior season. Maybe it's not a basketball decision. It happens. Why did King Kelly Coleman go to West Virginia? Why did Todd May, a Mr. Basketball from deep in eastern Kentucky at Virgie, transfer after his freshman year at UK to go to Wake Forest?
Nothing wrong with enjoying some good bourbon during the games but if it is going to make a body blind and delusional then it is best to dial it back some.
Bad teamwork? Dude couldn't have watched the games not coherently.
We went from "the coach doesn't like Kentucky kids" to "the players don't like Kentucky kids". It's never the player's fault.
Travis Perry is no victim. He has received a scholarship and NIL to Kentucky where he played as a freshman and will get the opportunity to do the same at another SEC school.