Lyon County’s Travis Perry breaks Kentucky’s 67-year-old boys’ basketball scoring record

One of the great sporting records in commonwealth history now has a new holder.

Lyon County junior point guard Travis Perry passed Wayland legend “King” Kelly Coleman (4,337 career points) on Thursday afternoon to become the all-time leading scorer in Kentucky high school boys’ basketball history.

Perry passed Coleman atop the leaderboard during Lyon County’s first game in the 2023 UK HealthCare Boys’ Sweet 16 state basketball tournament at Rupp Arena in Lexington.

Perry entered Thursday afternoon’s game between Lyon County (2nd Region) and Newport (9th Region) trailing Coleman on the all-time scoring chart by 20 points.

With 3:48 left in the fourth quarter, Perry made a free throw to reach the 21-point mark in the game and pass Coleman with more than 4,337 career points. Coleman held the record since 1956.

Perry finished the game with 23 points to lead all scorers in a 61-46 Lyon County win.

“Whenever I went to the free throw line and I kind of looked around for a minute and everybody was standing up. It was kind of one of those things like, ‘Man, don’t miss that free throw,’” Perry said after the game. “It’s something obviously very neat. But (Coleman) didn’t have the three-point line. ... It’s never been about the scoring record. It’s been about going out and playing basketball.”

A crowd of 13,964 people were inside Rupp Arena to watch history be made. The game was stopped after Perry made his record-setting free throw when Lyon County called a timeout.

Those inside the arena gave Perry a standing ovation.

The Lyons’ next game will be in the state quarterfinals at 8:30 p.m. Friday against defending champions Clark County.

Perry — who has been a high school varsity starter since seventh grade — is averaging more than 32 points per game this season for Lyon County. The Lyons are playing in consecutive Sweet 16s after returning to the state tournament last year for the first time since 1951.

Perry also owns the single-game Lyon County scoring record. He scored 61 points during a February game at Dawson Springs at which University of Kentucky head coach John Calipari was in attendance.

On Wednesday, Perry was named the Gatorade Kentucky Boys’ Basketball Player of the Year.

Perry balances attention, recruitment and winning

Perry is coached at Lyon County by his father, Ryan.

How has the elder Perry seen his son handle all the attention that comes with being a top college basketball recruit, as well as the pursuit of a prestigious state scoring record?

“I know (Travis) says in interviews and stuff all the time that he’s just worried about winning (and) he’s not really thinking about points, the points are kind of a byproduct of us being able to win,” Ryan Perry said Monday during a pre-Sweet 16 meeting with media members over Zoom.

“That’s really the truth with Travis because I’ve heard him tell people several times, ‘I’ve got to go home with a coach at the end of the night and I have to listen to what he says.’”

“All the attention and stuff surrounding the record and all that kind of stuff this year has kind of really blown up, it’s been a lot of other stuff to think about and deal with,” Ryan Perry added Monday. “But I think our team and Travis in particular has done a really good job of handling all of that. Especially with the recruitment and stuff that he’s got going on, he’s done a really good job of being able to balance all that.”

Travis Perry recruiting update

Perry is uncommitted.

The class of 2024 backcourt player has a long list of high-major offers that includes Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Purdue, Vanderbilt and Virginia. Perry took official visits this season to Michigan, Ole Miss and Purdue, and he’s also expected to visit Virginia following the end of his high school season.

Perry watched four Vanderbilt home games during the Commodores’ 2022-23 season.

Perry is ranked as the No. 86 player in the 2024 class by both Rivals and 247Sports. He’s ranked by the 247Sports Composite as the No. 89 player overall and the No. 11 point guard in the 2024 class.

Kentucky offered Perry a scholarship in June 2022, and Perry was at both Big Blue Madness last fall and Kentucky’s home win over Auburn in February.

UK is still without a commitment in the 2024 recruiting class.