Men’s basketball director of player development, Tj Perry, died tragically just miles from his destination in a car accident last weekend in North Alabama while heading home from Chicago with his mother.
Perry’s mother survived the car accident and is recovering in the hospital. There were no other cars in the accident.
Perry was hired as the director of player development in early June 2024. His role at Samford was to help with recruiting and pre-advanced scouting, identifying players to recruit.
Perry and Bucky McMillan, current head coach of men’s basketball and former Mountain Brook High School head coach, have known each other for years through the game of basketball.
“(McMillan) told me he’d love to have me on the staff with them… to get to coach with him, to get this opportunity, just lucky. Just blessed. He’s as good as there is. He’s taken a chance on me, and I’m very appreciative,” said Perry in an interview with the Jackson County Sentential after getting hired.
At the time of his death, his staff directory page wasn’t fully filled out.
“He was just wanting to get into college, just wanting an opportunity. We talked about it, obviously since we had a good relationship and all that and you know, he is a legend in this state… I thought he’d be really good and just work his way up,” said Mcmillan.
Perry has been a pivotal part of Men and Women’s high school basketball scene in the state of Alabama for almost 20-years, coaching at Skyline for both teams.
He had traveled and stayed at the same hotel as the Samford men’s basketball team for the Southern Conference tournament last year. He had spent a lot of time around Samford basketball and was well known by the program.
“He was just a guy you sit down; you have some wings, you talk basketball with, and he knows every player across the Southeast and knows their tendencies and every coach and what they do,” said Mcmillan.
With a high knowledge of basketball and a love for the sport, Perry was already impacting the program.
“I just hate that he didn’t have more time at Samford because everybody that didn’t get to know him would have really enjoyed him,” said Mcmillan.
Perry wasn’t just known around the state, but he was known around the country for his love of the game.
According to Coach Mcmillan, he would learn anywhere he could and wasn’t afraid to sit in on Duke’s practices so he could ask the coaches questions in their staff meetings.
“He is just one of a kind, he’s so funny, marches to the beat of his own drum and we love that in our program,” said Mcmillan.
Mcmillan asked that Samford keeps TJ Perry and his family in their prayers.
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