A familiar face from the SEC is on the move again. Kentucky native and former Mr. Basketball Travis Perry has entered the transfer portal after spending the 2024-25 season at Ole Miss, just one year after leaving Lexington for Oxford.
Perry, the 6-foot-1 guard from Lyon County, originally chose Kentucky over Ole Miss, Alabama, Cincinnati, and Western Kentucky in the fall of 2023. He was the first player to commit to Mark Pope at UK after playing his freshman season for the Wildcats in 2024-25. Perry appeared in 31 games with four starts, averaging 2.7 points in 9.8 minutes per game while shooting 31.3% from the floor and 32.1% from three. He scored a season-high 12 points and had four steals at Alabama on Feb. 22 and added 11 points against the Crimson Tide in the SEC Tournament.
He entered the transfer portal on April 22, 2025, hours before the deadline, and committed to Ole Miss on May 4, 2025. Chris Beard and the Rebels recruited Perry heavily out of high school, and Beard said in March, “I love Travis. He’s one of those guys that’s addicted to basketball. That dude’s a baller, man. He loves basketball”. Perry said Ole Miss was “exactly” what he was looking for out of the portal and that he had to “make the best decision for yourself and your basketball career”.
During his one season at Ole Miss in 2025-26, Perry joined a portal class that included AJ Storr, Corey Chest, Koren Johnson, and others as Beard retooled the roster. Perry is Kentucky’s all-time leading high school scorer with 5,481 career points at Lyon County, where he won Mr. Basketball and led the Lyons to their first state title. He also holds state records for field goals made with 1,918, free throws made with 933, made three-pointers with 712, and steals with 650.
Mark Pope said he was “devastated” when Perry left Kentucky. “I think he was on his way to becoming a legend here at Kentucky,” Pope said. “It was devastating to me, personally, because I enjoyed coaching him so much, and I think he has a brilliant upside”.
Perry’s next destination is not yet known. He will have three years of eligibility remaining. The transfer portal for the 2026-27 cycle remains open until May 6, 2026.
