30 Dwight Perry

Dwight Perry was born November 9, 1987, to Dwight Sr. and Veronica Perry.  His cousin Bobby Perry was a four-year basketball letter-winner for Kentucky from 2004-07.

A 2010 graduate of the University of Kentucky, Perry played three seasons for the Wildcats and earned a degree in business management.

Perry played high school ball at Southern High School in Durham, North Carolina.  He was a two-time team captain and SHS Spartan Club Student-Athlete of the Year in 2006.  He was also the PAC-6 Conference Paul Williamson Student-Athlete of the Year in 2006.

In May 2006, it was reported that Coach Tubby Smith had invited Perry to join the team for the 2006-07 season as a walk-on.  Smith extended the invitation to walk on after Perry came to Lexington a month previous and worked out for the UK coach.  Perry was not necessarily looking for athletic glory. He had aspirations to coach someday and saw UK as a good place to learn.

As a freshman at Kentucky, Perry saw action in four games, receiving a start in Kentucky’s NCAA tournament victory against Villanova.  Kentucky was forced to start little-used reserve Perry in their first-round game against Villanova, then burn a foul immediately.  UK assistant coach David Hobbs inadvertently checked the name of Dwight Perry as a starter instead of normal starter Bobby Perry. An incorrect starting lineup is an automatic technical foul.  Tubby Smith argued with officials for several minutes before tipoff that the mix-up was simply a mistake, to no avail. He was told to either start Perry or take the technical.  Dwight Perry started, but Bobby Perry was sitting at the scorer’s table before the ball even went up.  Dwight Perry immediately committed a foul to stop the clock, allowing his cousin to come into the game.  Perry nearly scored his first basket as a Wildcat against Auburn on January 10, 2007.  Perry stole the ball and launched a running three-point shot as time expired. It swished but was ruled to have come after the buzzer, denying him his first points.  The Cats celebrated anyway.

As a sophomore, Perry played in eight games.  He scored his first points as a Wildcat against FIU, converting two of three free throw attempts.  He recorded a career-high five minutes against Texas Southern and had four minutes at Indiana.

As a junior, Perry played in seven games.  He scored three points on a three-pointer against Central Michigan on December 29, 2008.

In 2009, John Calipari became Kentucky’s head coach and Perry did not return as a walk-on.

Wofford College announced on March 21, 2023, that Dwight Perry had been named the head coach of the men’s basketball program. Perry had spent the previous seasons at Wofford, two as an assistant coach and two as associate head coach. On December 5, 2022, he was named interim head coach.

Perry is also a graduate of VCU’s Center for Sports Leadership, earning his master’s in May of 2013.

Perry married the former Brittany Gee in August of 2016, and the couple has two sons, Dwight III (Trey) and Ashton.

College Statistics: