Kansas didn’t hand Trent Perry the birthday present he probably wanted most on Sunday - an exhibition win over Duke - but the freshman wing did get something useful out of the night. He was on the floor for 14 minutes, and those minutes mattered.
Perry used that stretch to show why Bill Self had called him a “winner” when he signed with the Jayhawks last November. The Kansas coach pointed to the freshman’s energy, his cutting, his ball movement and his willingness to affect the game without taking shots.
“He brought energy and he’s a good cutter and he’s a ball mover and he knows he doesn’t have to shoot it to impact the game,” Self said.
That was a much bigger role than Perry saw in Wednesday’s exhibition against Louisville, when the Frisco, Texas, product from Link Academy played one minute and didn’t record a stat. Against Duke, though, a couple of circumstances opened the door.
Kohl Rosario was sidelined after taking an elbow to the mouth in Friday’s practice and suffering a concussion, and Tre White ran into early foul trouble. Perry entered with 8:29 left in the first half and stayed out there for all but six seconds before halftime.
He made the most of it. Perry assisted on a key layup by Taylen Kinney and later finished a reverse layup of his own that gave Kansas the lead.
He also showed the defensive value that makes him more than just a role player in waiting, even when matched up at times with Duke’s 7-foot-2 freshman center Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje. Perry is listed at 6-foot-5, but he brings a 7-foot-2 wingspan of his own.
By the time the game ended, Perry had four points, two rebounds, an assist, a steal and three fouls. What stood out even more was the team impact: his plus-11 was easily the best on Kansas.
“We’ll learn how to play better with different guys in the game, but he’s not a perimeter shooter, so he’s got to be a screener and an offensive rebounder, and he’s figuring it out,” Self said. “I thought he did really well.”
Stokes echoed that sentiment after the game. After posting up Duke guard John Blackwell at one point and finding Perry for an inside basket, he made sure to give the freshman his due.
“First of all, happy birthday to Trent,” Stokes said. “He came in, gave great efforts, played his heart out.
He did a lot on the transition end, playing defense … He knows what to do when he comes in a game. He may not score 15, 10, eight points, but you’re going to know that he affected the game in a way on defense.
Just him running the floor real hard, setting real screens, I feel like he had a pretty good game.”
Perry’s path to more time won’t be simple. He’s competing with Rosario, who has an extra year under his belt, and Barnett, who may be Kansas’ best shooter overall. White also won’t usually be limited to 24 minutes the way he was here.
Still, Self made one thing clear: Perry’s role could grow as the season goes on.
“I see his minutes to continue to go up as he gets a little older,” he said.
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