UK’s Travis Perry verifies 300 consecutive made free throws and adjusts to collegiate game.
Kentucky freshman Travis Perry is the topic of summer workouts due to his incredible shooting accuracy, but know that much of his confidence stems from his transition from Lyon County High School to college.
It turns out that speculations about Travis Perry’s shooting abilities did not convey the full tale.
Yes, it is true that the freshman made 100 out of 100 free throws during a practice session. However, he completed the feat three days in a row, extending his incredible run to 300.
“That is true,” Perry said on Thursday. “We started a new shooting competition this week as a good team building thing and also to make sure we’re all getting our shots in.”
Nobody says anything to jinx the streak when it reaches the 90s, as if a pitcher is whirling a no-hitter into the last innings.
“It’s pretty silent,” Perry observed. “To be honest, I believe the person rebounding for me is almost as focused as I am. If I have a near miss but it still gets in, he will take a breath, make sure I take a breath, and then throw it back to me. It’s fantastic to see that other people are taking it just as seriously as you.
The obvious question is how many of the free shots actually drew iron.
“Not many,” Perry said with a smile. “It was quite hot those days, sir. They’re free; you have to produce them.”
Some, however, considered bounding out.
“If you have a couple a couple of shots in a row that maybe you make them, but they’re a little bit too far right and they’re not perfectly down the middle, you might tweak a couple things,” according to Perry. “But I’ve done so many repetitions at the free-throw and three-point lines that it’s just trying to do the same thing over and over.
“I’m trying to almost be mindless about it,” he told me. “I give myself maybe one shot, but that’s all. If you start having two, three, or four shot ideas every time, you’re thinking more than shooting.”
Perry, the 2024 Kentucky Mr. Basketball and Lyon County Sweet 16 winner, has three all-time state prep records: 5,481 points, 712 three-pointers, and 650 steals. In an earlier UK session, he hit 59 straight 3-pointers from the left corner.
“You’re standing there shooting an open shot, like there shouldn’t be any pressure,” Perry was saying. “But as you get older, you start to think about it more and feel more strain in your brain. But it’s great to compete with oneself every day.”
Perry apparently competes with himself a lot, as students don’t return to the practically vacant campus until next month.
“It’s so simple. I mean, you’re living right here, and it’s only 27 steps from your room to get shots up,” Perry explained. “You have fantastic access, and it’s difficult not to improve your shooting skills here.
“That’s something that I love about it,” replied the gentleman. “If I’m bored sitting in my room, I’ll go get some shots up. Shoot a couple of hundred shots. You return to your room, and if you feel bored after an hour or two, you come back and repeat it. “It’s just so much fun for a guy like me.”
Kentucky coaches have urged players to shoot 300 shots every day.
“The coach is really wants to get up 300, but I’ve been getting between 500 and 1,000 a day,” Perry told me. “During the summer, we have more free time, and I get bored easily. So instead of watching YouTube or whatever, I’m over here taking 300 photos. And it is a better use of your time.
Perry, who comes from a school with less than 300 students in grades 9-12, is astounded by the technology at the Joe Craft Center.
“The technology here monitors everything. “It’s incredible,” Perry stated. “You do not need to mentally monitor the shots. You don’t have to worry about the pistol malfunctioning. “The technology tracks it perfectly.”
Old habits are difficult to break.
“I’m definitely still counting them,” Perry explained. “I’m the type of man who needs to mentally count all of them. I can’t let the numbers slide. If you miss a couple in a sequence, you must make three or four consecutively. So it’s like a never-ending struggle with oneself, which is actually a lot of fun.
Interestingly, instructors have not changed Perry’s shooting form.
“They know we can shoot the ball,” Perry added. “But there are small things, like holding the shot and putting your feet beneath you. They may experiment with basic fundamentals, but they do an excellent job of coaching without altering.
