UW fans have become familiar with freshmen Joe Krabbenhoft and Marcus Landry, and how they have dealt with the high expectations that have followed them from their respective high schools. However, the 'Grateful Red' might not know a whole lot about Mickey Perry, the hidden freshman who also had a lot of expectations coming out of Proviso East in Maywood, Ill.
If that school rings a bell, it should. Michigan State's Shannon Brown graduated from Proviso East in 2003, a year after Illinois guard Dee Brown earned a high school degree from the same school. You might also remember a certain Badger forward named Michael Finley, also a Proviso East product.
'[Former assistant coach] Jeter was the one who recruited me, and I actually committed before coach Ryan even saw me play,' Perry said.
With such high praises, UW fans might be wondering why they have not seen the Chicago-area star on the court this season. The answer is that at 6'2\, 175 pounds, Phillip 'Mickey' Perry was just simply not big enough when he walked onto campus for the first time last fall. As a redshirt became more and more likely, Perry knew that the most important first step was to get bigger.
'I came in at about 175, and now I'm about 195,' Perry said. 'It takes commitment. When we lift on game days it is just as intense as in practice. We need to go into it aggressive.'
While Perry calls himself an 'intense player,' it often takes an older teammate to keep that intensity up during a season where playing time is not an option. For Perry, it has been junior guard Kammron Taylor who has stepped up to help the freshman develop.
'Kam tells me to keep my head up and look at the redshirt as a positive thing,' Perry said. 'I still have four years to play and a lot of time to get better.'
Taylor knows exactly what kind of situation Perry is in. When he came to UW three seasons ago, Devin Harris was the star point guard at Wisconsin, leaving Taylor with almost no playing time. Accepting that freshmen are not going to play much and embracing the opportunity to develop and learn is the key to a successful redshirt first year.
'As a freshman coming in, you expect to play because you were the big man on campus back in high school,' Taylor said. 'Going through what I went through my freshman year, I didn't get a chance to redshirt, which could actually be worse.'
So what kind of advice does Taylor give to his young prot??g'
'I tell Mickey to always listen to coach. Don't listen to how he is delivering his message, but listen to what he is saying,' Taylor said. 'If you work hard, anything can happen. I'm in my junior year now and good things are starting to happen because I stuck with it and listened to my coaches.'
Whether that will be enough for Perry is still to be determined, but if the work is put in and the high school hype and confidence Ryan had in the point guard when he was signed, Perry could be the next big Proviso East star.
'He has a long ways to go, but Mickey can be such a good player if he continues to listen to the older guys and the coaches,' Taylor added.
And Perry knows the impact he can make at Wisconsin: 'I think this is a program that is on the verge of being a powerhouse. All it needs is a couple of hungry players that want it, and I think I am one of those players.'
