In-state Kentucky recruit Travis Perry being courted by college basketball’s best team
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The highest-ranked college basketball recruit from Kentucky in the class of 2024 is continuing to weigh his options at the next level.
Recently, that’s meant looking outside the commonwealth, despite holding a scholarship offer from Kentucky.
Travis Perry — a four-star point guard from Lyon County — has spent January taking several unofficial college visits to some of the schools recruiting him the hardest.
Cincinnati (Jan. 8), Missouri (Saturday) and Purdue (Sunday) are among the latest schools visited by Perry.
In fact, Perry has made two visits to West Lafayette, Indiana, in consecutive weeks to watch the Boilermakers, who hold the No. 1 spot in the AP rankings.
Perry was inside Mackey Arena to watch Purdue beat Maryland on Jan. 22, and again Sunday to watch Purdue defeat Michigan State.
The attraction between Perry and Purdue is plenty mutual: Less than two weeks ago, Purdue head coach Matt Painter traveled to Eddyville to watch Perry play.
“I don’t really have a timeline, just kind of taking it as it goes,” Perry said of his recruitment this month after scoring 45 points against 2023 UK signee Reed Sheppard’s North Laurel team in a game played in Lexington.
“I’m enjoying getting to go around and see some places, see some games. Right now I’m trying to go out and see game-day atmospheres, practice, all kinds of stuff like that. ... Really just trying to get on campus on game days and see what’s going on right now.”
College scholarship offers growing
The number of scholarship offers held by Perry now numbers nearly 20 schools.
His most recent offer came this month — after that standout performance against Sheppard and North Laurel — courtesy of Indiana.
Despite his recent flurry of unofficial recruiting visits, Perry still has taken only three official visits during his junior year, according to 247Sports: Purdue, Michigan and Ole Miss, all of which came in the fall.
Perry recently told On3 that he is considering taking an official visit to Virginia in February.
Of note, an official visit to Kentucky hasn’t yet occurred.
Perry was at Big Blue Madness in October, and was part of a large group of UK recruits at the event, which coincided with class of 2023 center Aaron Bradshaw committing to the Wildcats.
Perhaps familiarity and proximity have allowed Perry to gauge his interest in Kentucky without an official visit, but it’s become clear that plenty of elite programs — some of whom have enjoyed much better recent success than Kentucky — are dedicating time and resources to securing Perry’s commitment.
Kentucky is without a commitment in the class of 2024: The Wildcats’ main recruiting focus — New York City shooting guard Ian Jackson — committed to North Carolina this month, and New Jersey point guard Tahaad Pettiford was set to commit Wednesday, probably to Auburn.
The all-time scoring chase
While Perry’s college recruitment heats up, he’s still aiming to accomplish plenty at the high school level.
Perry and Lyon County (17-5) are attempting to make a repeat trip in March to Rupp Arena for the Sweet 16. Last year, Lyon County reached the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1951.
Perry is also in hot pursuit of the all-time Kentucky high school boys’ basketball scoring mark.
The title is held by “King” Kelly Coleman, who scored 4,337 points at Wayland High School from 1953-56.
As of Tuesday, Perry — who has been a high school varsity starter since seventh grade — was at 3,859 points, making him unofficially the second-leading scorer in state history, and 478 points shy of Coleman’s total.
This story was originally published January 31, 2023 at 11:52 AM.
