Louisville basketball: Darius Perry’s decision to transfer makes sense

Rising senior Darius Perry announced Monday that he intends to transfer away from Louisville basketball.

Louisville basketball was already thin at the guard position heading into the 2020-21 season, but now the Cardinals will be searching for even more answers entering Chris Mack’s second offseason as head coach.

Senior-to-be combo guard Darius Perry announced yesterday via Twitter that he would be leaving Louisville and entering the transfer portal in order to finish his college career elsewhere, after graduating in three years. The 6’2 guard will be eligible right away in 2020-21 as a graduate-senior.

In three seasons at Louisville, Perry earned the love and respect of nearly everyone around the program for his on-court swagger, off the court hi-jinx, and his ability to shift the dynamics of a game in both a good and bad way that we haven’t seen since probably Edgar Sosa.

He finished his career at Louisville with averages that won’t blow you away by any means or really even come close to telling the full story of who Perry was at 4.8 points, 1.4 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.4 turnovers per game.

In my mind and maybe in yours, the story of Darius Perry will always be “what could’ve been?”

For three years it seemed fans had a heightened level of optimism when it came to the potential and overall development of Darius Perry. As a four-star high school senior, Perry looked like the next coming of Russ Smith due to his incredible athleticism and near-perfect fit in the Rick Pitino offense and defense. Perry was set to take the baton from Quentin Snider and become the next great Pitino protege.

That never got the chance to happen as just weeks before the start of official team practices, Louisville was embroiled in controversy once again ultimately leading to the suspension and firing of long-time head coach Rick Pitino.

That left new freshmen Jordan Nwora, Malik Williams, Lance Thomas (how we miss you Lance) and Darius Perry without a coach and without a firm sense of what their future would like. Under interim coach David Padgett is where we saw the early flashes of Perry that would continue on into his sophomore and even junior seasons.

One game Perry would play with his hair on fire at a level we hadn’t seen, always asking us “where has this been?” The George Mason game his freshman season (17 points in his debut), Minnesota in the tournament during his second year, and of course, the 12 assists, double-double against Youngstown State or even the 19-point performance against Clemson.

There’s always been good with Perry but part of having him on your team is understanding the bad (or inconsistency) that comes with the good. While it’s not a Jekyll and Hyde type deal, there’s a yin and yang with Perry that has always caused his coach (mostly Chris Mack) frustration.

Chris Mack described it this way at his end of season press conference following the team’s disappointing early exit against Minnesota in the NCAA Tournament:

"“I’d say this if Darius was right here. Darius didn’t know how to be an everyday guy and I’m big on that. If you show up and you’re in a bad mood, or things don’t go well for you and you’re different on different days, it’s going to create some problems. I think Darius had to learn the hard way.”"

In his junior season after being challenged to become an “everyday guy,” Perry developed into a trusted role player for the Cards – but once again never was able to take the next step up in play that many expected to see. While his play was far more consistent than ever before, it always seemed that Perry struggled to find his way in the Chris Mack offense. Even as his minutes dipped off for the second season in a row, Perry played his part and gave the team everything he had left all the way down until the end.

His decision to transfer away from Louisville is not shocking by any means. Last season, Jacob Lane wrote that it wouldn’t be surprising to see Perry leave after the conclusion of his junior season in search of a fresh start.

While it may be a year too late, due to Perry’s incredible drive and work ethic in the classroom, he is now able to transfer away without paying the NCAA’s penalty of a year of eligibility. My only hope is that Perry will follow Rick Pitino to Iona, to put the finishing touches on his career playing for the coach that he signed up to spend his next four years with.

Transferring now makes more sense for Perry than any other player that I can remember in recent years. As a senior, Perry has the opportunity to put his stamp on a program rather than trying to fit into a system where he’s never really fit. While Perry has given the team strong defense, shot-making, and play-making in small doses, the best of his ability to impact a game has yet to be seen.

Next season, Lousiville will begin to really look like the teams we saw at Xavier under Chris Mack at all positions. While the guard spot is one where the Cards will really need help, Perry doesn’t fit what Mack likes to do and rather than get stuck behind David Johnson and other guards, the decision to move on now is too smart to pass up on his part.

The move also makes sense for a long-term roster perspective. With Chris Mack moving into year three as the head coach of the program, Louisville’s roster is beginning to look more and more like what we’ve seen from him in the past. Mack values length and athleticism more than anything and while Perry has played well, there is the possibility to elevate the guard spot with his deflection.

For now, the Cards are thin in the backcourt with only David Johnson and Josh Nickelberry returning, following the departures of Ryan McMahon, Fresh Kimble, and now Darius Perry. Assuming Johnson doesn’t jump the pros, Louisville has their point guard of the present and future, so now it will be up to Mack and his staff to target and land commitments from transfers or a high-school senior.

No matter what happens I’ll always be thankful for the memories Darius Perry gave us. In fact, it was his fun-loving personality and ability to put a smile on people’s faces that got us through a lot of the crap the program has been through over the years.

So Darius if you’re reading this, thank you for everything. The number two was already a sacred number around these parts, but you found a way to reinvent and make it yours in only a way that you could.

I’ll never forget headband Darius, bench-mob leading celebration Darius, tournament Darius, birthday dunking Darius, ready to throw hands Darius, gif Darius, or any of the other incredible moments I’m leaving out that you’ve given us.