On 5/5/2025 at 7:12 PM, sportsfan41 said:

I don't think anyone here is being hard on Perry. If anything Perry seemed to decide for himself that he wouldn't see the court much at UK. 

Agree it was 100% Perry’s decision.  My comment was directed toward the naysayers that knock his game.  I fully believe he will work himself into becoming a pesky defender simply because he wants to be good at both ends of the floor and will be a 2 year starter (Jr/Sr) for the Rebels.

9 hours ago, Jumper_Dad said:

As far as Lofton goes, it wasn't that Smith and UK didn't think he could play...they just felt Joe Crawford (12), Rajon Rondo (16) and Ramel Bradley (57) were better than the 126th ranked Lofton was. Lofton turned out to be really good at UT, but no unbiased person would have taken him at the time over the three guards that UK signed.

It's funny how several people want every Kentucky kid available on the basketball team, but turn around and want Kentucky kids to be recruited over in Football. 

As far as Lofton goes, he was completely overlooked by UK.  Smith never showed more than lukewarm interest his senior year as no other major D1 programs did either.  It was more out of last minute desperation Pearl signed him in early May as he tried to cobble together his 1st Tennessee team after taking the Volunteer job in late March.  Too, many experts overlook what difference hardwork can make in a players four year development.  I believe Perry will be one of those achievers much like Lofton.  Was he right in leaving UK?  I hate it, but probably a good move for him.

Was hoping Perry would choose OVC, MidAmerican conference for his transfer, assured playing time and could enjoy his college career, not sure OleMiss will be any different than his experience at UK.

2 hours ago, Oldercoach said:

Agree it was 100% Perry’s decision.  My comment was directed toward the naysayers that knock his game.  I fully believe he will work himself into becoming a pesky defender simply because he wants to be good at both ends of the floor and will be a 2 year starter (Jr/Sr) for the Rebels.

He's got some decent off ball instincts, it's his isolation or man defense that needs work. Hope it works out for him. 

2 hours ago, nikeman49 said:

Was hoping Perry would choose OVC, MidAmerican conference for his transfer, assured playing time and could enjoy his college career, not sure OleMiss will be any different than his experience at UK.

No NIL money in the OVC or MAC. If he gets a big check at Ole Miss and still doesn't get playing time, Murray State and Miami (Ohio) are always going to be there.

41 minutes ago, gchs_uk9 said:

No NIL money in the OVC or MAC. If he gets a big check at Ole Miss and still doesn't get playing time, Murray State and Miami (Ohio) are always going to be there.

There is definitely NIL money in the OVC and MAC but not as much obviously as the SEC, so do you want to play basketball or have extra money to play with?

4 hours ago, Oldercoach said:

As far as Lofton goes, he was completely overlooked by UK.  Smith never showed more than lukewarm interest his senior year as no other major D1 programs did either.  It was more out of last minute desperation Pearl signed him in early May as he tried to cobble together his 1st Tennessee team after taking the Volunteer job in late March.  Too, many experts overlook what difference hardwork can make in a players four year development.  I believe Perry will be one of those achievers much like Lofton.  Was he right in leaving UK?  I hate it, but probably a good move for him.

I think Perry can have a very good career and hope that he does. Smith knew who Lofton was, he just had 3 better recruits that he liked better. It's more a credit to Lofton how he turned out, than an indictment of Smith for not recruiting him. As you said, Smith wasn't the only one that didn't recruit him. Pitino didn't either. Lofton turned out really good in a perfect situation at UT, but blaming Smith for not recruiting him is ridiculous. 

41 minutes ago, nikeman49 said:

There is definitely NIL money in the OVC and MAC but not as much obviously as the SEC, so do you want to play basketball or have extra money to play with?

I have no idea how NIL money is divided up, but question how much a guy like Perry would get, even at an SEC school.  There is plenty of film on him now.  I consider him at best an 8th guy in a rotation.  How much does that get you compared to being a 2nd or 3rd guy in the OVC.

2 minutes ago, REALSPORT said:

I have no idea how NIL money is divided up, but question how much a guy like Perry would get, even at an SEC school.  There is plenty of film on him now.  I consider him at best an 8th guy in a rotation.  How much does that get you compared to being a 2nd or 3rd guy in the OVC.

That’s a good question and not sure about the amount of money distributed.

6 hours ago, Oldercoach said:

As far as Lofton goes, he was completely overlooked by UK.  Smith never showed more than lukewarm interest his senior year as no other major D1 programs did either.  It was more out of last minute desperation Pearl signed him in early May as he tried to cobble together his 1st Tennessee team after taking the Volunteer job in late March.  Too, many experts overlook what difference hardwork can make in a players four year development.  I believe Perry will be one of those achievers much like Lofton.  Was he right in leaving UK?  I hate it, but probably a good move for him.

I get what you are trying to say. However, I think using Lofton as a comparison isn't the best. Lofton came right in his freshman year and proved all the coaches in the country missed on him, and quickly became one of the best players in the SEC right away. Lofton wasn't one that need to develop, he simply got overlooked and was ready from day one to produce in the SEC. That is not the case with Perry. I do agree Perry is going to get better every year, because he is going to work at it. However Perry is a true guy that has to get better in order to be able to play much in the SEC. Lofton proved right away he belonged. 

Which I will add, I don't think Perry finishes his career at Ole Miss. 

On 5/7/2025 at 12:34 PM, futurecoach said:

I get what you are trying to say. However, I think using Lofton as a comparison isn't the best. Lofton came right in his freshman year and proved all the coaches in the country missed on him, and quickly became one of the best players in the SEC right away. Lofton wasn't one that need to develop, he simply got overlooked and was ready from day one to produce in the SEC. That is not the case with Perry. I do agree Perry is going to get better every year, because he is going to work at it. However Perry is a true guy that has to get better in order to be able to play much in the SEC. Lofton proved right away he belonged. 

Which I will add, I don't think Perry finishes his career at Ole Miss. 

Article in Lex-Herald mentions both Arkansas and Louisville went hard after Perry.  Ole Miss won out.  Pope obviously wanted him back and was surprised by his departure.  Why leave?  NIL?….Have no idea.  Playing time?….truly think he would have gotten a solid share.  At Ole Miss he will be a major part of the rotation.

On 5/7/2025 at 11:23 AM, REALSPORT said:

I have no idea how NIL money is divided up, but question how much a guy like Perry would get, even at an SEC school.  There is plenty of film on him now.  I consider him at best an 8th guy in a rotation.  How much does that get you compared to being a 2nd or 3rd guy in the OVC.

8th guy in the SEC, in general, makes A LOT more than a top guy in the OVC.

On 5/8/2025 at 5:04 PM, Oldercoach said:

Article in Lex-Herald mentions both Arkansas and Louisville went hard after Perry.  Ole Miss won out.  Pope obviously wanted him back and was surprised by his departure.  Why leave?  NIL?….Have no idea.  Playing time?….truly think he would have gotten a solid share.  At Ole Miss he will be a major part of the rotation.

We will see on that last part if he is a major part of the rotation or not, and I hope you are right! With that said Chris Beard plays guys that play defense, so hopefully he can get that out of Perry and Perry does great things down there. 

On 5/12/2025 at 10:32 PM, InItToWinIt said:

8th guy in the SEC, in general, makes A LOT more than a top guy in the OVC.

Totally disagree, top OVC players are getting paid good money for commercials and advertisements, 8th guys in the SEC nobody even knows their names or who they are so that’s not true at all.

21 hours ago, nikeman49 said:

Totally disagree, top OVC players are getting paid good money for commercials and advertisements, 8th guys in the SEC nobody even knows their names or who they are so that’s not true at all.

So in the SEC, ACC, Big 12, Big 10 - most players who get paid through NIL don't actually do commercials or advertisements that are tied to their market value. It has actually become more of a pay-for-play scheme, even though the NCAA refuses to admit it.

 

Many Division I schools have started 'collectives,' which allow program suppporters/boosters/alums to facilitate money to student-athletes, usually in exchange for some sort of community service or community engagement via a social media post. It is true that sometimes these collectives do arrange for commercials or advertisements, but at the highest level of college basketball player the 13th man on a college team is oftentimes paid like the 13th man on an NBA team.  

 

This is just what an ACC Assistant Coach told me. It could absolutely be true that top OVC players are getting paid good money for advertisements and commercials, but I can tell you it is true that most P4 players, starter or not, get paid more than a top LM starter/top producer.