More than a shooter: Travis Perry on mustaches, his roommate, Lyon County, and more
Travis Perry‘s hot shooting has been a popular topic during Kentucky‘s summer basketball practices. Stories of 100-for-100 shooting at the foul line and a 90-percent clip in a 3-point shooting drill in which Perry sank 59 consecutive 3s from the left corner have fueled the discussion.
Teammates Andrew Carr, Lamont Butler and Amari Williams confirmed the outrageous stories coming from the Joe Craft Center. On Thursday, Williams told KSR, “People probably think we’re joking, but, no, we are being serious: his shooting numbers are crazy.”
Perry also confirmed the 100-for-100 drills, telling KSR, “I got pretty hot those days.”
In that same conversation, we learned more about Perry beyond the urban legends and his place in the Kentucky high school records books as the state’s all-time leading scorer.
A familiar roommate at Wildcat Coal Lodge
Perry found familiarity with his roommate assignment in Wildcat Coal Lodge. He shares his living quarters with fellow freshman Trent Noah, the other former Kentucky high school basketball star on Mark Pope’s roster. Perry and Noah played on opposite ends of the state throughout their prolific high school careers but met in the 2024 KHSAA Sweet Sixteen championship game, where Perry’s Lyon County Lyons won the school’s first-ever state title, beating Noah’s Harlan County Black Bears.
I asked Perry if the trophy is displayed in his room.
“I try to not bring it out too much,” he said. “Obviously, we talked about how fun it was to play there and stuff, and to be honest, occasionally people will bring it up to him, but he played played such a good state tournament, state championship; he’s such a good player from such a great community that they have.”
Before they met in the Sweet Sixteen final back in March, Perry told Noah that no matter the outcome, there would be no losers in the game.
“There really wasn’t,” he said later in KSR’s preseason interview. “It was just such a great moment for the state. It was so fun, but, no, I don’t bring it up too often.”
More on Trent Noah
Trent Noah was on his way to South Carolina until Mark Pope took over in Lexington and offered an opportunity for Noah to stay home. Travis Perry welcomed Noah into UK’s 2024 recruiting class, which had widdled down to only Perry after John Calipari’s departure. Together in Lexington, the similarity in their situations has helped them transition.
Perry said, “We’re going through the same thing. It’s good to have somebody to lean on for that… There’s gonna be tough days as a freshman, there’s gonna be a lot of very tough days, so just kind of going in there knowing that like, we’re the young guys and we have to compete a little bit harder, but also try to learn a little bit more every single day, is good because whenever you’re slipping off, you can kind of look over and talk to him about it because he’s going through the same things.”
Perry added that he and Noah put in a lot of extra work together, a lot of extra shooting. But when it’s competing time, he hopes Noah never scores on him.
Make room for Lyon County in Rupp Arena
Lyon County was beaming with pride when Travis Perry broke the state’s longstanding all-time scoring record, then again when he was named Mr. Basketball, then again when he committed to the University of Kentucky, and then again when he led the Lyons to the school’s first state title. Kentucky may have no prouder county than Lyon, and they are eager to see what the kid from Eddyville can do next.
He expects a lot of Lyon County (pop: 9,000) will travel to watch him in person.
“It’s not a bad drive, so it’d be great to see a lot of the hometown people here. I’ve got a pretty big family, a pretty big support system, so I know they’ll all be here.”
Golfing with the boys
From Travis Perry and Kerr Kriisa on how the Wildcats turn to golf for an escape, Perry named the best golfers on the basketball team.
“Andrew Carr is pretty good. Kerr is pretty good. Collin is pretty good. I think it was actually the first time Trent played, and he was on my team yesterday. He was pretty solid. Everybody (is) alright.”
What’s up with the mustache?
One can’t help but notice Perry’s new mustache, which he started growing after high school graduation. His last shave was before giving a graduation speech back in May; now, he slightly resembles another Kentucky Mr. Basketball, Richie Farmer, and Perry hopes the look will catch on around the team.
“I’ve got a couple of the guys that are working on one now,” Perry told Darrell Bird, who missed a great opportunity to say I mustache you a question. “Andrew shaved his beard and got to where he is just a mustache, Kerr‘s got a little bit of one go on. I’m trying to get Trent on board, so we’ll see what we got going on.”
Perry confirmed the mustache is mom and girlfriend-approved, too.
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