Class of 2024 guard Travis Perry is coming off a thrilling junior season.
The Eddyville, Ky. guard became his state’s all-time leading scorer, surpassing the 4,000 point mark in the process. And playing for his father at a tiny school of less than 300 students, Perry led Lyon County H.S. to the final eight of the single-class Kentucky high school state basketball tournament.
Perry averaged 32.2 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 4.7 steals per game through the first 35 games of his junior season. And now he’s turned his attention back to AAU basketball, where he plays for the Indiana Elite Adidas 3SSB 2024 team.
TDH and a couple other outlets caught up with 6-foot-2 Perry to get the latest on his junior season, recruitment and more.
———————-
What areas of your game are you focused on improving during your last AAU run?
Perry: I want to just continue improving everything that a guard needs for college. I’ve been working on my shooting a lot, and I feel like I’m shooting it pretty well right now, and then just the playmaking side of it. In college I’m probably going to be a one most of the time, so just being that guy out there on the court that’s being a leader and taking on that role.
Are you comfortable playing off the ball as well at the next level?
Perry: Yeah for sure, a lot of people have said I can be a mix of a one and two. On our team (Indiana Elite) we have some really good guards, so I have the luxury of running off screens or going and waiting for somebody to make a mistake and going and catching the ball and shooting a three. It’s really a mix, I’ve played some one and some two, and that’s what we’re going to do this (AAU) season, just however the matchups are will dictate what position I’ll play.
What’s it like being the all-time leading scorer in the state of Kentucky?
Perry: It’s pretty neat. It’s not something a lot of people can say that they have experienced, so it’s really cool the love that my community has given. Also I appreciate the platform it gives us, not for myself but for the other guys on our team. We’ve got a lot of guys on our team that are going to be college basketball players, and this kind of brings a light to their game. So that’s one of my favorite things about. These are guys I’ve been playing with my whole life, and they’re getting college opportunities because of the attention we’re getting.
From a recruiting standpoint, where do things stand and who are you hearing from the most?
Perry: It’s a little bit blurry right now with all of the portal stuff and all of the coaching changes, but I’m hearing a lot from Indiana, Purdue, Kentucky, Missouri, Western Kentucky, Virginia, and Cincinnati.
Is it hard being a high school recruit right now with the portal and not knowing who is going to be on people’s rosters?
Perry: Maybe a little bit but I’m trying not to worry about that too much. The coaches are good people, they’ll be transparent with you about who they’ve got coming in and what position they see you playing. It could be a little bit more more challenging than it was in the past but it’s not not anything too difficult I don’t think.
You took a gameday visit to Indiana during the season, what was your impression of that day?
Perry: The atmosphere down there is amazing for all of their games, they’ve got a great fan base, anytime I post anything about them on Twitter it’s blowing up in my comments. Their coaches are great people, great basketball minds, and they have a great way of doing things that translates to the pro level, but it also works really well in college. They’ve got a lot of great pieces that they’d be able to fill in around me and the other players that would be there. They want me to come in there and be a winner like I am, and go in there and win games for them.
(TDH Note: Perry was at IU for their 63-45 win over Wisconsin on Jan. 14)
Indiana played through their point guards last year with a lot of high ball screens. How would that fit the way you want to play in college?
Perry: That would definitely fit. I feel like I’m a player that can make plays out of the screen-and-roll, not only for myself, but also for my bigs. I get a lot of practice with that playing with Flory (2024 5-star teammate Bidunga), he’s a guy that’s going to be one of the best players in college basketball. Just kind of having that sense of if you get in trouble, just throwing it up to the rim — that’s how it’s going to be in college too, so just taking that knowledge that I’ve grown with him and AAU will translate.
Do you have any visits lined up with Indiana or any other next steps with them?
Perry: Yeah, I’ll probably try to take a visit there soon. Right now I’m pretty focused on AAU, trying to get a lot of wins in this, but I’m still talking to them all of the time, just seeing where things go, and seeing if that’s the best fit for me.
(TDH note: Assistant coach Brian Walsh is leading the recruitment for IU)
Do you ever stop being amazed at some of the things that Flory does on the court?
Perry: Sometimes but not really. I hadn’t played with him in a while, so today (Saturday) on a couple of his dunks my eyes got a little bit big. After about ten games in I’ll be like ‘yeah, that’s just what he does.’ You don’t really realize you’re playing with him and everybody is crowding around your court. He’s a great kid, great player, he’s awesome.
What is Purdue’s message to you right now?
Perry: Coach Painter and them, they talk to me all the time, just telling me that they need me and they said they think I would thrive in their system, that I’m the type of player that thrives at Purdue that could make a difference there and win a lot of games there. Obviously they’ve got a lot of good guards that have come through and played there and still are playing there and that’s something very intriguing about them, they can make guys like myself look really good on a college basketball court. That’s something that is obviously really great about Painter and those coaches. They’re some of the best, most personal people and some of the best basketball minds in the business so it’s good to get to talk to them.
Are you still enjoying the recruiting process?
Perry: It’s still something that I look at as it’s once in your life and not everybody gets to experience it. I kind of realized that if I wasn’t getting those phone calls all the time throughout the day I’d be pretty upset. I’d be wanting those phone calls so it’s something you got to kind of look at that and be thankful for and just appreciate it. You’re getting to talk basketball with the best basketball minds in the game in college basketball, so just really enjoying it and seeing it as a huge blessing.
Any idea when you might want to make up your mind on a college decision?
Perry: Not really sure. After the first two live periods it will probably be a little bit more clear, and there’s a lot of coaching changes going on. There’s just a lot going on. Hopefully in a couple weeks I’ll be able to cut a list and focus in on some schools.
The Daily Hoosier –“Where Indiana fans assemble when they’re not at Assembly”
- Find us on Facebook: thedailyhoosier
- You can follow us on Twitter: @daily_hoosier
- Seven ways to support completely free IU coverage at no cost to you.
