[FONT=Tahoma][SIZE=2]Welcome to Perry’s sixth edition of his Nation of Blue Player Diary![/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma][SIZE=2]In this edition, Perry discusses his time at the Real Deal at the Rock, his honors of being an All-American, several schools coming to watch him and a call from Coach Cal, and a surprise visit to a young boy.[/SIZE][/FONT]
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[HR][/HR][FONT=Tahoma][SIZE=3][FONT="]Hello again![/FONT][/SIZE]
[/FONT][FONT=Tahoma][SIZE=3][FONT="]Last weekend my AAU team Kansas Pray and Play Players headed to the Real Deal in the Rock. It was our first major tournament this spring. We haven’t had much time to practice together as a team yet. We played alright, but should have won both of the games that we lost. There were a lot of great teams and players at the Rock. We are back in the gym today to get really for the next tournament, The Jayhawk Invitational. Hopefully we will be more prepared next weekend.[/FONT][/SIZE]
[/FONT][FONT=Tahoma][SIZE=3][FONT="]My coach told me that I had earned several awards this week. It is quite an honor to be recognized by MaxPreps for the Junior All American 1[SUP]st[/SUP] team, ESPN Rise for the All-American First Team and USA Today for the All-USA 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] team. I want to say thanks to all my coaches and my teammates for helping me get these awards. We were successful because we played as a team and together we won 3 state championships and have won 44 games in a row. [/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Tahoma][SIZE=3][FONT="]Wednesday after school I had a great experience; friends of our family had asked my Mom if I would be willing to sign an autographed photo for a kid they know that has Autism and he was a big fan. I said I would do it they picked me up and took me to his house to surprise him. He didn’t know anything about it. It was great to see how excited and happy he was. His parents were very appreciative that I took time out to do that for their son. [/FONT][/SIZE]
[/FONT][FONT=Tahoma][SIZE=3][FONT="]Later on that evening we had an open gym at my high school. It was the last night that college coaches could come out. Head coach Bill Self (Kansas), Head Coach Gregg Marshall (Wichita State), Assistant Coach Brad Underwood (Kansas State) and Assistant Coach Chris Crutchfield (Oklahoma) all attended. I received a message from Assistant Coach Orlando that he and Coach Cal had planned to come but was unable to get there. He said they would call me very soon. Open gym went well we did some drills and then scrimmaged for about 30 minutes. It was great to see 4 of my 6 schools come out on the last night.[/FONT][/SIZE]
[/FONT][FONT=Tahoma][SIZE=3][FONT="]Thursday night Coach Cal called and talked to my mom and me for about 30 minutes. He wanted us to make sure we saw his article he wrote that day “What it Means to be a Player-First Program.” He talked about his current players that they are trying to decide if they should go to the league or stay in College. He talked some about the players he was getting next year. He told my mom and me that he would love to coach me. He also knew it was my Mom’s birthday and he wished her Happy Birthday.[/FONT][/SIZE]
[/FONT][FONT=Tahoma][SIZE=3][FONT="]Well, that’s all for now![/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[HR][/HR][SIZE=2]Thanks Perry! [/SIZE][SIZE=2]Have something you would like to ask Perry?[/SIZE] [SIZE=2]Leave a comment below and it may get answered in the future![/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]Follow Garrett Tucker on Twitter [URL=”https://twitter.com/GTuckersports”]@GTuckersports[/URL] for more info on Kentucky recruiting. [/SIZE]
