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UCLA’s Trent Perry staying for his junior season

April 4, 2026

LOS ANGELES — Mick Cronin’s pitch to keep sophomore Trent Perry at UCLA started well before the offseason.

After the UCLA men’s basketball team beat Northwestern on Jan. 24, the Bruins’ head coach jokingly said, “Hopefully I can trick him into staying.” After the Bruins’ win over Washington on Feb. 7, Cronin shared that he has “pleaded desperately” to Perry’s parents for their son to remain in Westwood.

Cronin’s lengthy efforts worked as Perry will stay at UCLA for his junior season, a source close to Perry confirmed to the Southern California News Group on Saturday.

Perry becomes the fifth player to do so in recent days, following the decisions of Eric Freeny, Brandon Williams, Xavier Booker and Eric Dailey Jr.

Cronin and Perry met on Wednesday, coming to the agreement that he will be the Bruins’ “lead guard,” a source told the SCNG.

Cronin has prioritized Perry, vocalizing his desire to retain him throughout the season, and solidifying those intentions this past week because of the player and person he is.

Perry came to UCLA as a point guard, but has willingly played off the ball over his first two seasons, developing into a versatile threat. He’s grown as a leader, his voice becoming a staple in UCLA’s locker room. He’s a top student, who values the level of education UCLA offers. He plays with an unmatched passion, roaring to the crowd after hitting crucial shots, wearing a smile across his face whenever he steps on the court.

And in an era dominated by the transfer portal, Perry played four years at one high school and is on track to do the same at the college level.

“If anybody belongs here on our team, for what UCLA’s about academically, and the kind of person he is, it’s Trent Perry,” Cronin said on March 10. “Trent’s a highly intelligent guy. He’s made great strides in how hard he plays.”

‘Just playing basketball’

The start to Perry’s career at UCLA, however, didn’t go as he expected. After winning consecutive CIF Open Division State Championships with Harvard-Westlake, and being named California Mr. Basketball, Perry averaged just 11.3 minutes per game as a Bruin freshman.

“It brought a chip over my shoulder,” Perry told the Southern California News Group during an exclusive interview earlier this season. “You always have to be patient and always have to keep building and continue to work no matter what’s going on.”

Perry was in a similar spot to start his sophomore season – behind senior guards Skyy Clark and Donovan Dent. Reflecting on his freshman year prepared him for that situation as he learned “to stay patient, while being impatient at the same time.” He was ready when the opportunity presented itself after Clark sustained a hamstring injury in early January.

As UCLA was approaching the bulk of its Big Ten schedule, Perry would be heavily relied upon – his playing time increasing from 21 minutes per game to 36. He met the moment, averaging 16.7 points per game and knocking down 48.8% of his 3-point attempts with Clark out. During a slog of an away game at Penn State in which Dent went scoreless, Perry stepped up with a career-high 30 points to lift UCLA to victory.

His most memorable moment of the season came Jan. 31 in UCLA’s double-overtime loss to Indiana. After trailing by 10 in the final minute of regulation, the Bruins mounted a comeback, and Perry drilled a 30-foot shot in the final seconds to extend the game.

Not only did Perry come through when his number was called, but he did so while being thrust into a position he didn’t expect to play much this season.

“Everyone’s calling me ‘shooting guard 1,’” he said. “With the role, it’s always shot first. Donny, he’s the playmaker, assists, just playing off of him. Just getting to the spots that I need to get into in order to make myself available to knock the shots down because I’ve put in the work.”

His performance with Clark out and development off the ball earned him a spot in UCLA’s starting lineup when his senior counterpart returned in mid-February. With UCLA at full strength, and another ball-handler in the starting lineup, Perry still stood out. He scored 22 points, making six free throws in the final minute to secure a win against the Spartans in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals.

Perry hasn’t expressed a preference between playing point guard or shooting guard as his college career continues, often answering questions about that topic by saying “I’m just playing basketball.” Nowadays, the two positions blur together, but his father, Troy, and Harvard-Westlake coach David Rebibo insisted his aspirations were to be on the ball.

“He’s a point guard at heart,” Rebibo told the SCNG. “But I do believe, he’s just a player and he’s a Swiss army knife with his size and strength, and he could do whatever’s needed and necessary.”

As UCLA builds out its roster, Perry provides optionality, but his positional preferences hold weight in the Bruins’ portal decisions. He’s earned that – through his output on the court and his stature off it – but it’s been a journey to get there.

“He played point guard all his life,” Troy Perry told the SCNG. “He was brought to UCLA to be the lead guard. Now it’s his time to shine.”

UCLA intends to add a “combo guard, wing and center,” a source said, as it builds out its 2026-27 roster. Perry’s positional preferences hold weight in the Bruins’ transfer portal decisions. He’s earned that – through his output on the court and his stature off of it – but it’s been a journey to get there.

‘An unbelievable teammate’

Harvard-Westlake has long held prestige as a private high school in Studio City for its academics and athletics. Perry originally attended for the former. He earned Winter Academic All-Big Ten honors this past quarter. Cronin regards UCLA’s team managers as “the most successful guys I’ve been around,” and believes Perry “can hang with them, intellectually.”

He’s one of two players Cronin’s ever seen bring a notebook to their postseason meeting – the other being Myles Johnson in 2022, whom Cronin advised to “tear it up and take the job at IBM.”

In his notebook, Perry marked key components of the offseason discussion. He asked pointed questions about his role and development process. It was his way, he said, to remember everything Cronin said.

His smarts came before his skills, which led to a similar development process at Harvard-Westlake as at UCLA. Perry sat behind upperclassmen for two seasons, before breaking out as a junior and leading the Wolverines to two state championships. It’s given him a perspective while enduring that same timeline at Westwood.

But that intelligence also translates to his IQ on the court.

“He’s always looking to make the right play,” Rebibo said.

During UCLA’s 69-67 win against then-No. 4 Purdue on Jan. 20, after senior Tyler Bilodeau made a go-ahead 3-pointer, 6.4 seconds remained on the clock. Perry, the youngest player on the court, settled his teammates, reminding them, “We need one more stop.”

At halftime of UCLA’s Big Ten Tournament win against Michigan State on March 13, before Cronin walked in the locker room to address his team, Perry had emphasized that head coach Tom Izzo “would be killing his guys,” preparing the Bruins for the Spartans’ second-half surge.

“He’s an unbelievable teammate,” Rebibo said. “He’s an unbelievable person. High character. Very smart. And he cares.”

Daring to be different

When Perry was starting to get serious about hoops, his father encouraged him to build his own identity.

“When you look out there on the court, everyone’s looking mad, everyone looking tense,” Troy Perry said. “Why don’t you be different?”

Troy Perry showed his son track and field athletes as examples. They relax before they sprint. He referenced his son’s AAU teammate, Oklahoma City and former Duke guard Jared McCain, whose positive energy is synonymous with his game.

During this season, Perry pumped his fist after setting a back screen that set Clark free for a layup. He wagged his tongue after numerous baskets during his breakout game against Penn State. He roared to the crowd after his game-tying shot against Indiana.

“He is at his best when he’s smiling and engaged,” Rebibo said. “But don’t get me wrong, there’s a mean streak there, even when you see that smile. There’s a killer behind that smile.”

“He definitely wears his emotions on his sleeve,” his mom, Jessica Oliva, said. “Sometimes to his own detriment.”

That’s what happened as he struggled to produce last season. Perry’s emotions seeped into his play, affecting his confidence. Once he learned to control his emotions, channel them into his aggression and develop a next-play mentality, he blossomed.

“Just staying patient while being impatient,” Perry said. “Whenever my time is coming, that’s when I attack. Especially this year, unfortunately with Skyy going out, that was my time to really attack, and was my opportunity to start and play. And I think I took full advantage.”

The hometown kid

Displayed in his unbridled passion, Perry lives in the moment. So when he was asked about Cronin’s ploys to keep him throughout the season, he brushed them off.

“It’s pretty cool, but I don’t want to think too much into the future,” Perry told the SCNG on Feb. 11.

Two summers ago, when Perry re-opened his recruitment after a coaching change at USC, Cronin convinced him to come across town. Perry hasn’t looked back, building a trustworthy relationship with his coach, he says, “any player would dream to have,” and creating a mark at UCLA, simply, by being himself.

His decision to stay reflects everything he’s about.

“It’s just pretty cool to be the hometown kid playing for the hometown team. I’m here now and it feels good,” Perry said. “It’s really cool to be in the position I am and continue inspiring young, L.A. kids.”

Orange County Register

News Details

UCLA’s Trent Perry staying for his junior season

‘Just playing basketball’

‘An unbelievable teammate’

Daring to be different

The hometown kid

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