Diary of a walk-on: Part 2

Dwight Perry, right, storms the court to hug Perry Stevenson after UK defeated No. 5 Tennessee in Rupp Arena on Jan. 22, 2008. File photo by Brad Luttrell | Staff

RELATED STORY: Diary of a walk-on: Part 1

Most boys in Kentucky — from Paducah to Pikeville — grow up dreaming of being the next Tony Delk or the next Cameron Mills. Only a select few have enough talent to lead their high school basketball team. Even fewer have the talent to play college basketball, much less at the top level. Those who do are usually targeted by top-tier programs, like UK, with a scholarship offer.

However, there are the few that become part of UK’s tradition another way. They simply walk on. This is the diary of Dwight Perry, a walk-on of a different sort.

Dwight Perry has a dream that involves basketball, maybe even at the NBA level. However, unlike many of his teammates, his dream does not involve playing in the NBA.

Perry dreams of becoming a coach — a dream that was one of the selling points to bring the six-foot-one junior from Durham, N.C., to Lexington. He turned down the chance to be a scholarship player at  Delaware to come to the Bluegrass State to help pursue his coaching dream.

“Obviously my cousin was here, but, you know, it’s Kentucky basketball,” Dwight Perry said, referring to his cousin, former UK player Bobby Perry. “That says everything right there. And since I knew I wanted to be a basketball coach out of high school, there’s no better place to learn basketball than Kentucky.”

Dwight has shown off his coaching skills by hosting recruits when they come visit. He also actively talks to other players on the bench during games. Bobby Perry says he’s always talking — he’s a hyperactive kid who goes 100 miles per hour.

“It’s true, it is my personality and I do love to talk,” Dwight said. “But I can see everything from a different perspective, so I try to give my two cents to the guys and help them out.”

Dwight said he has taken bits and pieces from the two head coaches (Tubby Smith and Billy Gillispie) and every assistant coach he’s had since he arrived on campus to hone his own coaching style.

Along with Dwight’s knowledge of basketball and the different aspects of the game he has taken from the various coaches, there’s one person already signed up to play for Dwight when he becomes a coach — his cousin.

“I would love to play for him,” Bobby said. “He’s an incredibly smart person, both on the court and off, and he really knows and understands the game.”

Junior Dwight Perry passes the ball in UK’s 88-65 win over Mississippi Valley State on Dec. 7. He logged two minutes in the game. File photo by Kristin Sherrard | Staff

Along with taking strategies from his coaches, Dwight has learned how to embrace everything that happens to him during his time with the Cats. During his freshman year, his jersey looked a little different than everyone else’s: The nameplate on the back of her jersey was blank.

While Bobby was, and still is, very upset about the situation, Dwight has shrugged it off and become an instant fan favorite.

“It was an awkward situation,” Dwight said. “I just embraced it and figured it could be a lot worse. I was just happy to be on the team.”

With that situation behind him, Dwight said this year’s version of the Cats is becoming a family, something they say at the end of every huddle.

Dwight has taken his role and run with it, and he’s doing what he does best throughout the whole process: embracing the situation.

“It’s great. A lot of people think that since you don’t get to play it’s kind of bad,” Dwight said. “But you have to learn to embrace practice, because you get the other guys better and get yourself better too.”