Are the stories about Travis Perry’s practice shooting true? Here’s how he does it.

To confirm or refute these outlandish stories of ridiculous shooting accuracy by a particular University of Kentucky basketball player, I used my professional journalism training to go directly to the source.

Did Travis Perry make 100 of 100 foul shots during a particular free-throw shooting drill in practice?

“That is true,” the freshman guard said Thursday at the Joe Craft Center.

Actually, that’s not quite correct. Truth is Perry made 100 straight free throws three days in a row.

“It’s free,” Perry said. “You gotta make ‘em.”

OK, then what about the wild tale spun by UK teammate Andrew Carr that Perry made 57 or 58 or 59 consecutive shots during a practice drill?

“Yes sir, 59 in a row, that’s also true,” Perry said. “That was a shooting competition of how many we could make in a row from, I think it was the left corner.”

Three-pointers?

“All threes,” he said.

It is not true that the feat was a personal best for the all-time leading scorer in Kentucky boys high school basketball history, however.

“I think I got in the mid-80s one time,” he said of a streak during a high school drill where talking was not allowed. “We were pretty locked in.”

“Travis is phenomenal,” said UK teammate Kerr Kriisa , who made stops at Arizona and West Virginia before coming to UK. “I’ve had some pretty good shooters around me, but he’s definitely up there. And he works hard, man. He really does.”

Oh yes, the legend grows for the former Lyon County sharpshooter who is now Mark Pope’s sharpshooter for the Wildcats. It wasn’t enough for Perry to break King Kelly Coleman’s career record , he also led Lyon County to the Boys’ State Tournament title.

After committing to the Cats when John Calipari was the coach, Perry stuck to that commitment after Cal left for Arkansas and Pope returned to his alma mater.

“There have been a few surprises,” Perry said Thursday. “One of the main things is how great of guys we have. Coming into a new environment, all these guys are experienced veterans, they’ve all proven themselves on multiple stages. They could come in and all just kind of push over you and not really want to help you at all. But they’re all such great guys, they want to help you.”

On paper, Pope’s offense appears a glove-tight fit for Perry’s skills. Pope wants to shoot 3-pointers. Perry makes 3-pointers. Pope wants confident shooters. Perry is a confident shooter.

“It’s been kind of fun to learn Coach Pope’s system and work through that,” he said. “Figuring out where the shots are coming from, I think that’s something that’s been big. And then working on those shots in practice has been good for all of us.”

What about defense?

“It’s definitely an adjustment,” Perry said. “It really makes it a lot easier when you have four guys on the floor that are on the same page as you, talking the same way as you and also you all know what each other are gonna do. That’s something we’re all in sync and working on very well.”

OK, back to the shooting. The free-throw shooting. When Perry has made 90 in a row, the gym grows quiet as he closes in on the century mark. He does have a routine. His personal rebounder makes sure the seams are lined up before returning the ball. And Perry does keep count in his head of the number of makes as he shoots.

“It’s a constant battle with yourself,” he said. “Which is kind of fun.”

When Perry steps to the line, is there one thing he’s thinking?

“I try to be almost mindless about it,” he said. “I’ll allow myself maybe one shot-thought, but that’s about it. When you get two, three, four shot thoughts every time, you’re doing more thinking than shooting. I just kind of work with one thought, at most.”

How does it feel when you finally miss one?

“Awful,” Perry said.

This, too, is true.

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