After one season at Kentucky, Travis Perry has found his new college home
Kentucky basketball’s surprise entrant into the transfer portal has found his new college home.
On Sunday, former UK guard Travis Perry committed to Ole Miss from the NCAA portal.
Perry — a 6-foot-1 guard from Lyon County who is the all-time leading scorer in Kentucky boys high school basketball history — entered the transfer portal just hours before the deadline to do so on April 22.
He was one of only two scholarship players from Mark Pope’s first Kentucky basketball team to enter the portal this offseason, along with fifth-year guard Kerr Kriisa. On April 6, Kriisa committed to Cincinnati for his final college season.
During his lone season with the Wildcats, Perry averaged 2.7 points in 9.8 minutes per game over 31 appearances. He made four starts for Kentucky as a freshman, taking over point guard duties after injuries occurred to each of Kriisa, Lamont Butler and Jaxson Robinson.
Perry went 18-for-56 (32.1%) from 3-point range during the 2024-25 season at UK. He didn’t play in Kentucky’s final two games of the season — an NCAA Tournament second-round win over Illinois and a loss to Tennessee in the Sweet 16 — in part due to a wrist injury that he suffered in the SEC Tournament.
“Whenever you get this opportunity, you don’t take it lightly to come play with Kentucky across your chest,” Perry said in the UK locker room after that season-ending loss to Tennessee. “I’m just really blessed, really proud to be able to be part of a group that all understood that and took that very seriously.”
Now, Perry will play for a different school in the SEC next season.
Ole Miss — led by head coach Chris Beard — reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament last season for just the second time in school history. The Rebels went 24-12 overall and 10-8 in SEC games during the regular season. Ole Miss lost by only three points to Michigan State in the Sweet 16 of March Madness.
Look forward to next season, Beard’s program has loaded up on transfers. Ole Miss is set to bring in small forward AJ Storr (Kansas), power forward Corey Chest (LSU), combo guard Koren Johnson (Louisville) and Perry (Kentucky) from the transfer portal. Two Ole Miss players from last season — center John Bol (Central Florida) and shooting guard TJ Caldwell (Arkansas State) — have departed the Rebels this offseason via the portal. Former Ole Miss players Ja’Von Benson (a forward) and Robert Cowherd (a guard) are also both still in the transfer portal.
Ole Miss is set to bring in two freshmen for next season: Four-star forward Tylis Jordan and four-star guard Patton Pinkins.
Last season, six different Ole Miss players averaged double-digit points per game. Guard Sean Pedulla (15.4 points per game), forward Jaemyn Brakefield (11.1), guard Matthew Murrell (10.8), guard Jaylen Murray (10.3) and guard Dre Davis (10.1) are all expected to be out of eligibility.
Forward Malik Dia (10.8 points per game) will be back at Ole Miss next season as a senior.
Perry, who won the 2024 Kentucky Mr. Basketball award, first committed to and signed with Kentucky in fall 2023, when John Calipari was still UK’s head coach. Perry committed to the Cats from a list of final schools that also included Ole Miss.
After last offseason’s coaching change from Calipari to Pope, Perry ended up being the only member of UK’s six-player 2024 recruiting class who opted to stick with the Wildcats and play for Pope during his first season as head coach.
Another original member of Kentucky’s 2024 recruiting class, big man Jayden Quaintance, will play for UK next season after transferring to the Wildcats from Arizona State.
As he begins his career at Ole Miss, Perry will have three seasons of college eligibility remaining. According to the 247Sports rankings, Perry is rated as the No. 245 player in the portal this offseason.
Perry’s decision to transfer away from Kentucky comes after Pope and the Wildcats bolstered their depth and talent at guard this offseason.
UK has signed two guards from the transfer portal — former Pittsburgh point guard Jaland Lowe and former Florida guard Denzel Aberdeen — and the Wildcats will also be bringing in five-star freshman recruit Jasper Johnson as part of their 2025 high school recruiting class.
Another Kentucky portal addition is former Tulane wing Kam Williams, who logged 63 made 3-pointers as a freshman last season with the Green Wave.
Kentucky is also expected to return both Collin Chandler and Otega Oweh in the backcourt next season. Oweh has declared for the 2025 NBA draft while keeping open his option to return to Kentucky for his senior college season.
What is the Kentucky basketball roster for the 2025-26 season?
Pope and the Wildcats have 13 projected scholarship players for next season.
Kentucky’s 2025-26 roster is expected to include four returnees from last season’s UK squad. Those players are freshmen guard Collin Chandler, freshman forward Trent Noah, sophomore center Brandon Garrison and junior guard Otega Oweh.
Both Kerr Kriisa and Travis Perry entered the transfer portal from last season’s UK team.
UK has announced the additions of five players from the transfer portal this spring. Those future Cats are junior guard Denzel Aberdeen (Florida), sophomore forward Mouhamed Dioubate (Alabama), sophomore guard Jaland Lowe (Pittsburgh), freshman big man Jayden Quaintance (Arizona State) and freshman wing Kam Williams (Tulane).
On Monday, former Lexington Catholic High School star Reece Potter committed to the Wildcats out of the transfer portal. Potter spent his first two college seasons at Miami (Ohio).
Kentucky will be bringing in at least three first-year players next season. Those players are Croatian big man Andrija Jelavic, guard Jasper Johnson and in-state center Malachi Moreno.
The 6-foot-11 Jelavic has played the last two seasons for Mega MIS, also known as Kosarkaski klub Mega Basket and Mega Superbet, a professional team based in Serbia. Kentucky announced the addition of Jelavic on Monday.
Both Johnson and Moreno are arriving via the traditional high school recruiting pathway. Johnson is a left-handed guard and the No. 18 national recruit in the 2025 class, according to the 247Sports Composite. Moreno was a McDonald’s All-American and Sweet 16 state champion this year.
Former high school recruit and UK signee Acaden Lewis, a guard, decommitted from Kentucky this spring and will instead play at Villanova next season.
Kentucky is also still involved in the high school recruitment of Braydon Hawthorne, a four-star small forward from West Virginia. Hawthorne, who was previously signed to play at West Virginia, has already taken a recruiting visit to UK.
This story was originally published May 4, 2025 at 3:05 PM.
