By Mike London
mike.london@salisburypost.com

LYNCHBURG, Va. — Whether it arrives in middle school or in the NBA, that last serious day on a basketball court, with refs and fans and a scoreboard, comes for everyone.

Carson graduate Cole Perry is 6-foot-5 and was better and more resilient than most, so his last game came wearing a college uniform on the Randolph College Wildcats’ Senior Day in Lynchburg, Va.

Like a lot of athletes, Perry’s life was impacted by the universal redshirt for COVID. Throw in an injury-related redshirt season, and he had a chance to be a college basketball player for six years.

He will turn 25 in April.

“Oh, man, what a journey it’s been,” Perry said. “In a way, it’s sad that college basketball has ended for me, but it was a blessing that it was a big part of my life for so long.”

Perry was a soaring, young phenom once, as his first cousin, CP Perry, is now.

The nephew of long-time Carson head coach Brian Perry, Cole was bombing 3-pointers and throwing down wicked dunks as a high school junior, but a torn ACL the summer between his junior and senior years of high school changed his trajectory. He made it back from ACL surgery after just five months because he desperately wanted to have a senior high school season — and he willed himself to have one. He averaged 17 points and seven rebounds for the Cougars and made all-conference and all-county teams. He graduated from Carson in 2019.

He was a different player after the injury, surgery and rehab. He’d lost some spring and explosion. The trade-off was that after sitting and watching basketball film and games for five months, he developed a more cerebral approach to hoops. When he made his comeback, he played the game like a coach on the floor, focusing more on making the right pass and the right play than putting the ball through the twine in spectacular fashion.

He signed out of high school with Southern Wesleyan University, a Division II school in South Carolina. The new coach that had been hired there had gotten a chance to watch Perry in AAU ball in his pre-injury days. Perry still wasn’t fully recovered from the ACL, so he redshirted the year he spent at Southern Wesleyan before transferring.

His next stop was College of Coastal Georgia. He got on the floor for the Mariners some in the 2020-21 season, but he didn’t play a lot.

“I loved the school, but it wasn’t a good situation for me as far as basketball,” Perry said.

Perry found a home at his third stop. He’s been at Randolph College the last four years.

Randolph is a Division III school in Lynchburg, Va., that competes in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference against similar Virginia schools, plus Guilford College in Greensboro. Guilford is the school that signed Cole’s sister, Carleigh, who tore two ACLs in high school but came back to be Co-Rowan County Player of the Year and was voted MVP of the 2021 3A state championship game the night Carson finished a perfect season.

Cole showed a willingness to come off the bench to rebound and defend first, pass second and shoot third in the 2021-22 season at Randolph. That unselfishness helped him build a strong relationship with head coach Pete Hamilton.

“I found a coach who really believed in me, and he had a system that was a really good fit my skill set,” Perry said.

Perry became a starter for Randolph in the 2022-23 season. He only scored about 5 points per game, but in Hamilton’s system he was an ideal ‘4’ man. He could hold his own on the boards on defense, while serving as a passer and facilitator on offense. He nearly posted a triple double against William Peace that season. He got the 10 rebounds and 10 assists in 30 minutes, but he only scored eight points.

Perry started every game in 2023-24. Again he averaged 5 points, but he led the team in rebounds, getting double-digit boards six times and averaging 6.8 per game. He also led the team in assists.

Hamilton stepped down after the 2024 season, his eighth at Randolph.

Perry had some worries about the coaching change, but he decided to return to Randolph to use his final year of eligibility as a graduate student.

“I did consider transferring, but I had a close bond with a lot of the guys in the locker room,” Perry said.

Perry’s role diminished some in his final year, playing for new coach Evan Kee. He only started about half the games and averaged 2.6 points and 2.5 rebounds.

“It definitely was a different role for me, but I tried to be a positive leader for the young guys in the program,” Perry said.

Perry has finished school and has done well academically, so he’s got some options ahead of him. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in the coaching and sports leadership fields. His career goal when the college journey started was to become a coach like his uncle, but he also is looking at some sales opportunities. Sales isn’t as much fun as hoops, but it offers more money and shorter hours.

“I’ve got some decisions to make, but I feel blessed to be where I am in life right now,” Perry said.

He got to watch his sister play for Guilford a few times, and she got to watch him a few times. Their parents, Brad and Audra, got to watch both siblings have a lot of good games in the ODAC.

The Senior Days for Cole and Carleigh were on the same day. Their cousin, Colbie Perry, Brian Perry’s daughter, also had her Senior Day that same afternoon in Spartanburg, S.C. She was a member of the Converse team.

“The family had three Senior Days the same day,” Brian Perry said. “Basketball has given us a lot of good times over the years. It’s such a simple game, but it can have a huge impact on your life. Those three kids all had their ups and downs with the game, but that’s always part of it. The main thing is they are great kids. They’ll be awesome employees for someone in any field they choose.”