The transfer portal has changed college athletics drastically as now players are free to hop from school to school, and Kentucky lost a player this offseason.

That player is Travis Perry, and this hit close to home for Kentucky fans as Perry is a native of Kentucky. The rising sophomore guard decided to transfer inside of the SEC and will now play for the Chris Beard and the Ole Miss Rebels.

After a recent practice, Perry spoke with the Ole Miss media, which is the first time he has been heard from since leaving Kentucky.

Perry had this to say to the Ole Miss media about his decision to leave Kentucky, “It’s definitely a difficult decision, I think, for anyone, really, to get in the portal. But definitely, the situation is difficult. But I just felt like, at the end of the day, you have to make the best decision for yourself and your basketball career. You only get so much time to play basketball.”

Kentucky fans were quick to jump on Coach Mark Pope, feeling he pushed a Kentucky native player out of the program, but that could not be further from the truth. Coach Pope felt that Perry would develop nicely in his program, but the guard wanted to make the move to Ole Miss to get some more playing time this season.

Perry is an excellent offensive player, and if he is able to continue to develop on the defensive side of the floor, his shooting will make him an elite college player.