Welcome into behind Kentucky Basketball. I am heard his parched thrill to be joined
by Kentucky signee and state champion in Kentucky mister basketball Pramis Perry got a long
list of accomplishments there. First off, I'm curious, where do you store
all your trophies? That's a good question. So all my trophies, like
from pretty much recently, are in my room. But I've got you know,
we've been playing doing this basketball thing and really a lot of sports thing
for a while. I know I've got we got some football trophies from fourth
fifth grade, some that are taller than I was at that age, that
are stored in basements and my grandparents' basements pretty much everywhere. So I've got
got pretty much a whole basement full of trophies for that. And then but
yeah, most of the recent trophies, which which are pretty pretty special to
me, either in my room or in my dad's. I think I know
the answer to this. But what what's your most favorite oh State championship to
Probably by far, that one, and that one is at the school.
We're getting a nice trophy case for it, but right now, it's it's
been in a place that our team can kind of see and stuff. So
pretty much every day I come to work out, I go go look at
it. Honestly, that's awesome. Yeah, it just shows what what all
the hard work you guys put in and that accomplishment was so amazing for you
guys. I've been watching some of the coverage from down there and that's been
fun to see. So I just kind of take me through, what what
were those weeks like, because I know they were hectic. Obviously, you
guys are in the state tournament, then there's the coaching change. I mean,
how did that all play out for you? What were those few weeks
like? Yeah, yeah, sorry, it was definitely pretty busy. You
know. We we had just spent a week up in Lekesington State Tournament obviously,
then we go home, have a little bit of time, we're celebrating
stuff, and then you just start start seeing the reports a little bit that
there's some talk of a coaching change maybe, and you know, first obviously
you don't really believe it's gonna happen, but then it happens, and it
kind of kind of throws a big wrench and and everything that you you thought
you had going like it's I mean, Dad talked about it. It was
such a long process, and you know, you get happy with the decision,
you're set with a decision, and then it's just shaken up so much.
It's a little bit, a little bit scary, a little bit overwhelming
at first. But I felt like we stayed stayed calm, stay positive through
it and just just made the decisions that were important to us and ultimately got
a decision we were really happy with. So walk us through that that process.
When was the first time you actually got to talk to to coach Pope
And what did that first conversation go? Go like, yeah, yeah,
start. I think it was I think it was the day or two days
after he was hired. We had been up at the Capitol. We were
getting recognized for winning the state championship up there, and I got back and
he called me and I was in the car, and I remember I had
like my car whenever it connects, it goes really loud on the speaker,
and Coach whenever I answered, Coach just started screaming on the phone like he
was yelling. It was pretty pretty neat. You could tell how excited he
was. And still every time I talk to him, he seems just excited.
So yeah, those first conversations were a lot of a lot of excitement
from him, excitement for me. You know, it was kind of you
know, really starting to build that relationship. But also you could tell that
he was really really excited and happy about the situation he was going into.
So we will never show this to him if you give the wrong answer.
But did you were you familiar with coach Popes playing days, Yes, sir,
yeah, I actually was. You know, they they have one of
probably one of the arguably the greatest seams to play in Kentucky basketball. And
you know, I'm good friends will read with and Jeff and and those guys.
You know, you watch some of that stuff. You see it on
Twitter all the time. But you know, I've seen it a lot more
lately honestly than I had had before then. But my dad had talked to
me about it. You know, that was kind of his his era basketball
that he had watched. My granddad. They had all kind of seen seen
those guys go through and play and just really how excited to stay when they
were playing there, and they were pretty excited about it. So you mentioned
his energy and you know just the volume at which he was speaking when he
first reached out, what was those because I know the conversation about you being
a part of his his program now that he is in Kentucky kind of,
and if you don't mind start out talking about like on the court fit,
what were those those conversations about. From his perspective, he felt like I
fit in the offense, in the system he tries to run really well,
playing a fast, up tempo game. And then from my perspective, it
was the same thing Dad and I had those conversations. They play his teams
to have played a lot like our high school team played, playing fast,
shooting, shooting a lot of threes. You know, they were top two
in both categories threes attempted, end made threes this year. So like that's
that's stuff that really I feel like translates well for me. So yeah,
that was the main thing on the encore fit was just you know, the
offensive scheme and then also you know, obviously the defensive side of the ball.
There's a lot of great things that he does and you know, I
think that'll be some then obviously there's gonna be a learning cover there for defense,
as there is for any freshman, but going in there, I feel
like that his system and his defensive schemes will help me out in the best
way possible. And then what was the conversation about? Did? I mean,
does it just ask you are you still part of Kentucky basketball? Or
what's that? What's that like? Yeah, there was kind of multiple conversations
there. You know, it was kind of just starting to build that relationship
at first, you know, talking on the phone a little bit, just
obviously it was very busy for him those first few days, so they were
kind of short conversations, just just getting to know each other a little bit,
you know, him kind of showing how that he wanted me there and
that that was an important part of it. Then I got to come up
to the press conference and talk to him a little bit, meet his family
and everything like that, and then we went up there to set down with
him a little bit after the Kentucky Ohio All Star Game, just to kind
of get my parents to get to talk to him. That was the main
thing. You know, I'm very family oriented. They're very important indecisions that
I make. So my dad had talked to him a little bit, but
it was really important to get my mom to set down with him and just
just kind of have the you know, she's she's got a lot of questions,
as any mother does. That's gonna be sending their kid off to college,
so she just wanted to ask those questions, just kind of reaffirm what
she thought that I was thinking. And yeah, that was That was pretty
much all it took. And then what was that day of that press conference?
Like that was wild Honestly, we kinda we got up there and we
didn't really really know what to expect. When knew there was gonna be a
good crowd, you kind of see on Twitter and everywhere the rumblings, so
there's gonna be a lot of people there. But whenever we rolled into Lecxington,
like you tell that the energy was hot that day, there was a
lot of people there. And then just at the press conference, it was
it was crazy, like how how welcoming, how excited everyone was there,
Like it was really, uh, really hard to believe. Honestly, after
that day, you meet with him, your family meets with him, and
then obviously he's building the rest of the team. So have you kind of
done research about your your future teammates, have you got to talk or text
with any of them or what's that process like been for you. I've done
research on a lot of them, you know, I've seen a lot of
them playing in you know, very important games and the NCAA tournament past few
years and then just big games throughout, So it's been good to kind of
get to watch them. But also, you know, you know that they've
all got different things they'll bring to the table, different uh, different things
that will help us. But yeah, just kind of starting to build those
relationships with those guys, get to know them a little bit and to chat
with them, and you know, I think everyone is on the same page.
We're pretty excited about it and feel like that we could have a lot
of fun and hopefully win a lot of games. Are you not intimidated?
Maybe maybe you're looking forward to it. You got you got multiple guys that'll
be on the team that have won multiple conference defensive Player of the Year,
So I mean you got to be excited about what those practices are going to
be like and how much better they can make you. Yeah, definitely,
Yeah, that's that's one of the things. If you're going to a school,
I can tuck you like you know that there's gonna be gonna be a
great competition there, and that's kind of what makes you a lot better.
And then you know, we have have a lot of guys that have played
a lot of college basketball, have a lot of experience, and I think
it'll help make my transition a little bit easier. And also going against those
guys every day for a couple of months before we even play a real game
will be will be pretty fun and challenging, obviously, but it will make
me a lot better and make the whole team better collectively. So what are
the next few weeks or months look like until you get on campus? What
are you You're wrapping up school down at Lion County, what are you what
are you working on? What are you trying to do to make sure you're
fully ready to join the team. Yeah, just wrapping up school a little
bit, like you said, getting the classes knocked out, Just finish a
couple of college classes. I'm just trying to get everything ready, you know,
for all the senior activities, graduation and everything like that. But then
also there's there's obviously the basketball stuff, you know, still trying to get
in. I have a pretty good schedule where I can work out. I'll
work at a across the gym, so I clean up there and all the
stuff in the morning there, and then you know, after school with a
lot of a lot of workouts and get shots up. We'll get right back
to that conversation with Travis Perry, but I wanted to tell you guys that
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free. So what are the expectations you're looking forward to for this summer once
you get onto campus. Yeah, yes, it's gonna be very different obviously,
so it's it's hard to know what to expect, but really just going
in there and looking forward to to put work in with those guys. You
know, like I said, there's gonna be a lot of competition, a
lot of getting better, a lot of learning, and hopefully this this summer
and all that stuff will will kind of help me get a jump start on
that help the whole team get together. You know, it's it's normally different
for freshmen obviously coming into that, but it's gonna be really different for a
lot of our guys. We're in such a different situation, a new a
new kind of age there. So it'll be a lot of fun. You
know, a lot of differences, like I said, but I think we'll
enjoy getting to learn through them together. You mentioned your dad, who I
think most people know was your high school, high school coach and your coach
almost well, I'm sure he probably started before you even got an organized basketball
but I wanted to ask you, like, what's what's some of the best
advice that he's given you that you really hold close to your heart. Yeah,
he's given me a lot of good advice on the basket court. You
know, he instills confidence into me just just keep shooting, keep playing your
game, that they no matter who you're playing against, that which you have
will work. But the main thing that I try to keep that he told
me is just always stay humble, always always stay grounded. I remember I've
told the story a few times. I remember I was playing golf with him.
I was probably ten or eleven years old, and I was playing pretty
good golf and we were with a couple of his buddies, and I was
really really proud of myself, really happy with the way playing and I was
I was talking about it, telling telling everybody how good I was playing,
and he told me, uh, don't don't ever teot your on horn.
Let everybody else they can, they can say good stuff about you, but
just kind of kind of stay humble, say even killed. And that's something
that I've tried to carry with me, just just staying humble, humble through
everything. Really, there's been you know, a lot of a lot of
news, and I don't know if you've you've seen this ship, but it
was something as are recording today, it's kind of coach and I hope I
can you can see this picture. But the Pope, Yeah, actually got
you saw that. What's been I saw your reaction to yeah, to to
something like that. And just Kentucky basketball being in the new I mean,
I know it's always in the news, but just being a being in the
news maybe in a different lay on under Coach Pope. Yeah, it's it's
really neat. You know, it's Kentucky Basketball, Like the brand is is
huge, one of the one of the biggest brands in college athletics probably,
so you know, there's always gonna be a light like that. But when
you see something like that, it kind of really puts into another perspective just
how worldwide, how how really big the brand is, and how special it
is to be a part of it. See, it's really neat. Stuff
like that is really really funny and really really fun to see. But yeah,
it's it's definitely a brand that's unlike anywhere else, and you know,
it's just a blessing to be a part of it. What do you see
when you see the stories of the other one as a recording today, was
that he went and picked up your Well, he's picked up multiple of your
future teammates from the airport, but he actually went back to b YU to
to pick up Colin. I mean when you see I know you've talked to
Coach Pope and you get an understanding, but you know, words or words,
actions or actions, what does it mean to you when you see the
actions that he's doing for your teammate, your future teammates right now, shows
that he puts his words into action. He's really a family man. Once
everyone feels like they're part of the family, and just how important that is
to all be connected, all be one and one goal. And I think
those you know, I've been seeing the stuff him picking up everybody at at
the airport on Twitter the past few weeks, and that's stuff that, like,
not everybody does that. It takes a special type of person to do
that, someone that's really committed to the players they're going to have to the
people that they're interacting with. And yeah, know it's great to see whenever
coach is doing that, it kind of shows, you know that he's really
really putting his words into action. Honestly, So are you as one of
the future players? Do you just are you falling along on social media like
everybody else when when new signees pop up. I'm sure your phone just goes
crazy. People text you when somebody commits' how does that work for you?
Yeah? Definitely, It's kind of crazy. How quick how quick the news
gets out there and and is everywhere. You know, you get someone someone
will sign or whatever commit and there will be fifteen Twitter and notif cases,
you'll be tagged in fifteen things or tagged on Instagram. It's it's really honestly
incredible how quick it can get out there and how quick people can mention you
in it. But yeah, it's kind of fun. You know, the
day and age that we're in right now, information spreads quickly, So yeah,
I kind of kind of see it, honestly at the same time because
they they announced it, they talk about it, and before anybody even has
time to notify you of it, it's on social media. So it's pretty
funny. Really. Yeah, I can't imagine your your notifications the past month
or so, with all the awards, the state championship. It's it's got
to be kind of crazy. Your phone must be heated up. Definitely,
definitely a little bit, yes, sir, As we wrap up, just
turning it back to you, I know everybody kind of knows you as a
shooter, but I know there's a lot more to your game. What are
some of the other aspects of your games that Kentucky fans could look forward to
seeing? Yeah, yes, sir, you know, there's obviously my shooting
abilities what a lot of people talk about or know me for. But I
think that really growing this year as a decision maker, a playmaker, a
ball handler. That's something at the next level, if you have someone that
can kind of orchestrate the offense, it can really make a huge difference.
And that's something I've really tried to get better at. I'm obviously been working
on the defensive side of the ball because that's ever important in college basketball to
be able to defend better than you can score the ball. So that's that's
one of the main things. But the thing that I try to always do
is just play as hard as I can, you know, be the hardest,
hardest player on the floor, do whatever it takes to win. And
that's something that has always been kind of instilled in me, like my dad's
always put that in me. It doesn't really matter. Stats don't matter,
as long as you can do whatever it takes to get your team to win
at the end of the day. And that's the main thing that I tried
to do, just play as hard as I can and try and get the
win at the end of the day. Travis, thank you so much for
your time. Yes, Sarah, thank you. Thanks so much to Travis
for joining behind Kentucky Basketball. On the episode that preceded this one, Cameron
Mills and I broke down the roster of players who had committed to Mark Pope's
staff, and we talked about Mark's Pope's staff as well. If you haven't
already, go back and listen to that. But since that recording, two
new Cats have signed on the dotted line and will be Kentucky basketball players next
year. Kobe Brea it was added to the men's basketball roster. He is
a three point shot and making machine. He made forty nine point eight percent
of his attempts at Dayton last year. He has one season of eligibility left.
He is the two time Atlantic ten to sixth Man of the Year.
Here's what Coach Pope had to say about Kobe. By the numbers, Kobe
Brea is the most efficient mid to high major player in college basketball in the
last decade. He's the best returning shooter in college basketball next year. Kobe
is dangerous, dangerous man who is a great human with an incredible family.
He will be key in allowing us to play the style of basketball that we
love the most. Kobe and this group are going to take Big Blue Nation
on an incredible ride. He's originally from Washington Heights, New York, and
last year he averaged eleven point one points and three point eight rebounds per game.
Kerr Krisha also joined Kentucky. He's a six foot three veteran guard who
played at both Arizona and West Virginia before coming to Kentucky. Next year,
he'll have one season of eligibility where left. He's originally from Estonia and last
year for the Mountaineers he averaged eleven points and four point seven assists in twenty
three games played. Here's what coach Pope had to say about Kerr. Kerr
Kretia is one of the best shooters in the country. I feel like I've
been recruiting him for the last five or six years since he was a prep
player. He is one of the most experienced guards in all of college basketball.
Kerr played on some great Arizona teams, then last year in the hollowed
halls of West Virginia. He is a competitive spirit that overflows in every way
conceivable. Kerr will have a massive impact on our team on the court and
in the locker room. Kentucky fans are going to love his bold personality,
and if you've been on the internet at all, you've seen that bold personality,
probably in some clips on social media. Kerr was mixing it up with
Luka Doncic, one of the best players in the NBA and some international play,
so we have to keep an eye out for him on the court.
So those are the latest addition to the team as we record this episode.
If you aren't already, please subscribe to this podcast in your favorite podcast player
you're subscribing, look up UK Sports Network Today, hosted by Andrew Cappus.
That's a great way to keep up to date on all of you athletics in
podcast form. Thank you so much for listening to Behind Kentucky Basketball.