Senior Spotlight: Perry Stevenson

While things remain to be seen regarding what early departures to the NBA may or may not happen after the season, we do know that three Wildcats are leaving us this year due to graduation, so it would be a tragedy for them to be overlooked while we play the guessing game. Perry Stevenson, Ramon Harris and Mark Krebs are going to be recognized before Sunday's game with Florida, so between now and then, we're going to shine the BBNR spotlight on each. We'll begin with Perry Stevenson...

Perry Stevenson was recruited by Tubby Smith as a 3 star forward from Louisiana. At 6'9" and only 190 pounds, he arrived to the Lexington campus looking like a swift wind might blow him away. However, he worked hard from day one, and steadily got stronger and better with each game. During his freshman year, he averaged 10 minutes off the bench, scoring 3 points and grabbing 2 rebounds per game.

After Tubby left for Minnesota, Stevenson got the vote of confidence from new coach Billy Gillispie, seeing his playing time jump up to 24 minutes a game, and his stats improved with those new opportunities: 6 points and 5 rebounds a game. During his junior season, his minutes moved up to 28 minutes a game, and he scored 8 points, grabbed 6 rebounds, and blocked 2 shots per game. And then, of course, there was his dunk in the NIT (see pic above and/or the video below) that posterized some poor soul from UNLV.

When Gillispie was canned and Cal was hired, there was some concern that Stevenson wouldn't fit into the new program, and honestly, its hard to say that he has. During his senior year, Perry's only averaging 8 minutes a game, his lowest total as a Wildcat. Of course, you can't blame Cal for playing guys like Cousins, Patterson and Orton over Stevenson, but you also can't help but notice that when he does get the opportunity to play, Perry does a pretty good job out there. As we near tourney time, it'll be interesting to see how much time off the bench Perry might get as Cal looks to experience over youth in crucial moments. Cal has hinted that he might call the seniors' numbers in tight spots.

Perry has now said that he's glad he's stuck out at Kentucky and that he might use the experience of playing for three different and very diverse coaches to become a coach himself.

“If I had to do it again, I probably would,” he said of his UK career. “I learned a bunch. You can always learn more from three than one.”

Our hats are off to you Perry. Good luck in the future and thanks for all you've done for the Kentucky basketball program over the past four years. You will be missed.