Mark Pope admits he was devastated when Travis Perry transferred from Kentucky

Kentucky only had one outgoing transfer until 10 p.m. ET on the final day of the transfer portal window. Then, Travis Perry entered his name. On Tuesday, Kentucky head coach Mark Pope publicly addressed Perry’s decision for the first time.

“I was devastated when Travis left, mostly because I think he is such a special young man,” Pope said, per KSR’s Mario Maitland. “It was devastating to me, personally, because I enjoyed coaching him so much, and I think he has a brilliant upside. I think he was on his way to becoming a legend here at Kentucky.”

Perry was the first player on Pope’s roster at Kentucky, and the only player 2024 commit who remained committed to the Wildcats after John Calipari left the program for Arkansas. Perry is from Lyon County, Kentucky, where he became the state’s all-time leading high school basketball scorer.

Most fans expected Perry to see limited action during his freshman season at Kentucky. However, after Kerr Kriisa and Jaxson Robinson suffered season-ending injuries, Perry was thrust into the limelight.

He finished the year with 31 appearances and four starts. The 6-foot-1 guard averaged 2.7 points, 0.8 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game while shooting 31.3% from the field and 32.1% from beyond the arc.

Perry had his best performance of the season in Kentucky’s 96-83 loss to Alabama on Feb. 22. In the loss, he tallied a career-high 12 points and four steals. After the game, Kentucky veteran forward Andrew Carr praised the freshman for his performance.

“I think he’s done a great job of stepping up and that’s kind of where we’re at right now,” Carr said. “Everybody is being able to get more experience and, for him, he’s been taking advantage of it and just getting more and more confident out there, and that’s what we need from him. He’s going to continue to get better and help this team a lot.”

On May 4, Travis Perry committed to Ole Miss after reportedly being contacted by Maryland, Arkansas, Louisville and others in the portal. As of this report, Perry hasn’t publicly discussed his decision to transfer.

However, it’s safe to assume the move partly had to do with playing time. Kentucky added guards Jaland Lowe and Denzel Aberdeen via the NCAA Transfer Portal this offseason. Both players would’ve likely taken minutes away from Perry.