Recruiting Report: Deon Perry (2022)
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And finally…..THE MIAA IS BACK! Teams will begin official practice today in preparation for their openers on Feb. 17. It’ll be a much anticipated return for plenty of returning prospects, but one that I expect to make a significant jump is 2022 Mount Carmel point guard Deon Perry Deon Perry 5'8" | PG Mt. Carmel | 2022 State MD .
Perry was the cowbell for the Cougars last season as a sophomore and had to carry the load in multiple areas. On top of being a dependable scoring option from all three levels, he had to create for the majority of his teammates if his team planned on putting enough points on the board to come away with the win. As the season progressed, his vision improved rapidly and his feel for the game indicated that reads were slowing down in his head despite still attacking with quick pace. He carried over that high level of play into the summer with a talented Team Melo squad where he wasn’t depended as much to be a primary scorer. That’s when scouts really got to see him settle in as a true point guard and he showcased those skills tremendously.
“Over the summer with Team Melo we got a lot of chemistry and as far as me personally, I just worked every day on getting other guys involved,” Perry said. “I’d score when needed, but even for Mt. Carmel, I’m just worried about making sure everyone around me is able to score the basketball. When we’re in practice, I want us to practice the way we’d play in a game because then once the games come, they’ll know what kind of shots are coming their way and be ready to shoot.”
Another area that Perry has shown significant strides in is his overall leadership and understanding what’s expected of him to make this Mt. Carmel team a successful group.
“We have a lot of young guys on our team this year, so I’m focused on getting them ready as soon as I can so they’re ready to take the shots that come in the game. Andrew Dixon Andrew Dixon 6'1" | PG Mt. Carmel | 2024 State MD (2024) is a young point guard who is comfortable both on and off the ball. He can get everyone involved too. The biggest thing with this team is making sure everyone is involved so our chemistry can be on point,” Perry told Prep Hoops.
The MIAA schedule will consist of a 13-game schedule. For almost every team, it’ll be difficult to get off the ground running with the amount of time off. However, Mt. Carmel has the benefits of Perry, 2022 guard Toby Nnadozie and senior transfer center Kevin Kalu Kevin Kalu 6'10" | C Mt. Carmel | 2021 State MD to bring production right away.
“I feel like this team takes pride in defense. Defense is what’s going to get us wins this season. We want to battle every day to like I said, make practice harder than the games so it’s an easy transition for us. Kevin is a major piece to our team. We lost our big from last year, Koralp [Turk], so adding him into the mix that we have and the scheme, I feel like he’s a big piece. He can finish around the rim and in order for us guards to get open shots, we need to get him involved more in the paint,” Perry said.
On top of stacking up wins, Perry is focused on taking advantage of this shortened season to prove that he can be the distributor everyone saw throughout the summer.
“I’m just trying to work on getting assists. Work on finding open guys. Work on my reads on the court in different situations. And then of course, playing defense until I can’t play defense no more.”
Perry’s recruitment remains slow at this point, but low majors are beginning to reach out. He could potentially be a steal at the Division II level as well. Loyola (MD) is the latest program to reach out to the 5-foot-9 point guard and plans on developing a relationship going forward.