[SIZE=3][COLOR=black][FONT="][FONT=Tahoma][SIZE=2]Welcome to Perry’s fifth edition of his Nation of Blue Player Diary![/SIZE][/FONT][/FONT][/COLOR]
[FONT="][FONT=Tahoma][SIZE=2][COLOR=black]In this edition[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/FONT][/SIZE][SIZE=3][COLOR=black][FONT="][FONT=Tahoma][SIZE=2], Perry discusses his trip to Houston for the All-American Game, his viewing of the Final Four, and how he was impressed by both Kentucky and Wichita State. There may even be a new Perry Ellis t-shirt now![/SIZE][/FONT][/FONT][/COLOR][FONT="]
[/FONT][/SIZE][HR][/HR]Hello everyone!
[SIZE=2][FONT=Tahoma]I just returned from the first ever All-American Championship Game in Houston this past weekend. It was a great time! My mom and I left Wichita Friday afternoon after I finished taking my history test. We landed in Houston around 6:15pm. We then took a shuttle to our hotel. We checked in, ate dinner, and got ready for skills training and a meeting. We spent about two hours at the gym. Then we headed back to hotel for pizza. [/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=2][FONT=Tahoma]We got a text message to be down for breakfast at 8am for a special speaker. It was Jay Bilas an ESPN Basketball Analyst! I met him before at the Nike Skills Academy. He talked to us about how important it was to be a good person and good student along with working hard on and off the court. He shared with us about his recruiting and college experiences. [/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=2][FONT=Tahoma]Then we headed to Kingwood High School for our West team practice with Head Coach Greg Wise and Assistant Coach Royce Huseman. We had 6 juniors and 4 seniors on our team and they are all great players. We had a good practice. We played hard and worked well together. I had a couple of thunder dunks in practice and the guys told me later on the way back that they looked like Blake Griffin dunks. [/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=2][FONT=Tahoma]We went back to the hotel to eat and shower before we headed downtown for the Bracket Town activities. We hung out and walked around. Then we headed to Dave and Buster’s for a Final 4 Watch Party. They had food waiting for us and I enjoyed watching the Final Four games on a big screen. We also got to play a lot of video games. Norman Powell had collected over 7,000 game tickets but he had a lot of help getting those tickets. [/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=2][FONT=Tahoma][B]Rasheed Suliamon[/B] was trying to recruit [B]Shabazz Muhammad[/B] and me to choose Duke to be our own Fab Five. [/FONT][/SIZE]
I was really impressed to see how Kentucky made it to the Final Four. They made quite a run deep into the tournament and I think they surprised a lot of people too. We saw a lot of Big Blue fans in Houston at Bracket Town on Saturday.
Wichita State what a great ending for them. They just missed getting invited to the big dance but sure played well in the NIT, winning the championship. The city of Wichita was really proud of the Shockers and supported them. The Shockers were flying back to Wichita for a big celebration at Koch Arena the same day we were flying out to Houston for the AAC games.
[FONT=Tahoma][SIZE=2]After the NCAA games were over we went back to the hotel. My mom then told me she got a call that evening that her dad had a mild stroke and was in the hospital undergoing tests. My mom told me that my Grandparents had planned to go to a friend’s house to watch my game on ESPNU on Sunday evening and that my Grandpa was so disappointed that he would miss that. He said the hospital didn’t have that channel. He told my mom to wish me the best, that he wanted an update after the game and to say a prayer for him. I wanted to play well anyway but it was even more on my mind thinking about my grandpa now and hoping he will be okay. [/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma][SIZE=2]Sunday we went to the gym to shoot around in the morning than came back for lunch and to change into our uniforms before heading back to M.O. Campbell Center for the big game. It was great, they had a band and cheerleaders greeting all the teams. I had played before on local TV and once on ESPN for the Elite 24 but it rained and the game was moved inside so the whole game wasn’t on TV. So this was my first time to really play a full game on national television. It was exciting and it was a great honor that I was selected to be part of this first time event. [/SIZE][/FONT]
[SIZE=2][FONT=Tahoma]Once the game got started and it was my turn to get on the court I tried to rebound well and run the court. I was open for a three and took the shoot and it went in. Then everything seemed to just go well for me. The West team beat the East by three. I had a great time at this event. They really did a good job with putting this first time event together. It was first class. [/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=2][FONT=Tahoma]Monday morning 6am wake up call it was time to head back to Wichita. We had a two and a half hour longer flight back due to weather and fuel issues but we got back safely. I was proud that I could represent [B]Wichita Heights High School[/B] well at the AAC game. I was thankful I was able to see my Grandpa Thursday evening and he is doing much better. My grandparents were finally able to watch my game since my dad had recorded it for us. My grandparents had found a [B]Perry Ellis[/B][/FONT][/SIZE][SIZE=2] designer T-shirt and my Grandpa had one for him to wear and one for me, that was pretty special.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]See ya![/SIZE]
[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]
