‘Unforgettables’ would never have happened in NIL, portal era

To appreciate the full gravity of where we are in college athletics, understand this: If NIL and the transfer portal existed at the time, there might never have been an “Unforgettables,” the darling 1992 Kentucky team.

Nor Cameron Mills’ dramatic 3-pointer to give UK a late lead against Duke in 1998.

Nor Darius Miller’s solid contributions to the 2012 national championship run.

In each instance, much beloved in-state players like Richie Farmer would never have gotten a chance to shine because they would have been recruited over by coaches adding older players with proven track records, either standouts at smaller schools or frustrated five-stars at big time programs looking for a fresh start.

You think Tennessee Tech’s Van Usher, who led the nation in steals and assists in 1992, wouldn’t have been a hot portal commodity, potentially stealing away Farmer’s minutes? How about prolific scorers Charles Jones of Long Island or Ball State’s Bonzi Wells burying Mills on the depth chart in ’98?

The portal and NIL would have stolen so many precious memories Kentucky fans cherish and it’s ruining the game today, not because of evil coaches but because of an absurd situation that demands this chaos. 

Given that frustrating reality, you understand why Travis Perry has now reluctantly chosen to leave Kentucky after just one season.

Perry is known for many things, most notably as a Kentucky Mr. Basketball, the state’s all-time scoring champion and Sweet 16 MVP in leading tiny Lyon County to the 2024 state championship. Today, he adds a new notation, though it’s not one he would celebrate – poster child for college athletics in 2025.

On April 22, in the final hour on the last day before its closing, the Kentucky freshman decided to leave his dream school and enter the transfer portal. The kid who chose No. 11 because of John Wall voluntarily surrendered that lifelong goal after just one season.

Perry certainly didn’t want to do it, agonizing until the deadline forced a decision, but he knew what we all knew, the kid had no choice. He is a basketball player who needs to be on the court, not a glorified walk-on.

Welcome to the new day for college athletics, the Old West where coaches are the town’s powerful business owners bankrolling hired guns to protect and advance their wealth.

In olden times, less than a decade ago, Perry need only worry about beating out any new freshmen added to the roster. Knowing that players typically show their greatest growth between the freshmen and sophomore seasons, Perry could have held his own against a precocious kid making the leap in competition enabling him to develop into a valuable contributor as a junior and senior.

In this new day, however, Perry’s head was on a swivel, not only looking back to incoming freshman Jasper Johnson, but ahead to a pair of hired guns – Pittsburgh junior transfer Jaland Lowe and Florida senior Denzel Aberdeen.

One could argue Perry should stay and compete. But let’s be honest, he would never have gotten that chance. The replacement gunslingers will arrive soon and given the reported price tags for each, who do you think is going to get the first shot to see the court?

Truth be told, Perry would never have seen the floor this past season if not for a rash of injuries. The kid who was recruited to Kentucky by John Calipari saw new coach Mark Pope re-recruit him while also adding five new guards – Lamont Butler, Kerr Kriisa, Collin Chandler, Koby Brea, Otega Oweh and Jaxson Robinson.

Perry saw action in the two exhibition wins, but Kriisa’s return sent Perry to the pine. He never left the bench against Duke, WKU and Clemson and averaged fewer than three minutes in five other games despite an average win margin of 33 points.

But injuries to Kriisa Dec. 7 at Gonzaga, Butler Jan. 14 versus Texas A&M and Robinson on Feb. 7 ahead of the South Carolina game forced the issue. Perry played in 31 games with four SEC starts and averaged 2.7 points. His best game was in a Feb. 22 loss at No. 4 Alabama when Perry played 28 minutes with 12 points and four assists, a time when all three injured players were missing in action.

Clearly that performance, nor any others, were enough to secure his future as Perry did not play in Kentucky’s final two NCAA Tournament games and then saw his coach add two veterans on top of him in the rotation, including Aberdeen just one day prior to the portal window closing.

Going forward, what is the lesson for future Travis Perrys? 

Sadly, the transfer portal holds the answer. Most kids, especially in-state players, will be best served going to a school where they can spend two years proving their talent to Kentucky in hopes of spending their latter seasons in Lexington. Brea shined at Dayton, Amari Williams at Drexel. Why not a similar path for future Kentucky Mr. Basketballs?

Without doing so intentionally, that worked for Travis Ford (Missouri) and Patrick Sparks (WKU), who became invaluable additions to the Kentucky roster, leading UK to the 1993 Final Four and 2005 Elite Eight, respectively.

So while Perry is bound for a new school, he will forever be a Wildcat – the family bleeds enough blue to change the water color at Lake Barkley – but he is a gifted basketball player first and foremost.

Ultimately, that is the dream that must be followed.