COLLEGE

Perrin Buford began his college career at Motlow State Community College in 2012–13, where he averaged 10.7 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game for the Bucks as a freshman while also leading Motlow in blocks at 1.3 per game.

Across that Motlow season, Buford played 28 games with 23 starts and totaled 299 points, 153 rebounds, 74 assists, and 35 blocks, shooting 53.2 percent from the field, 38.3 percent from three-point range, and 56.3 percent at the free-throw line.

He then transferred to Southwest Tennessee Community College for the 2013–14 season to continue playing under Jerry Nichols, who had previously been Motlow State’s coach, joining a large group of Motlow transfers that had helped power the Bucks to a 26–4 record, a TCCAA Region VII championship, and an NJCAA national tournament appearance the year before.

As a sophomore at Southwest Tennessee in 2013–14, Buford averaged 14.0 points and six rebounds in 26 games for the Saluqis, scored double-figures in 22 of those 26 games, and added a team-best 3.6 assists per game, with Middle Tennessee later noting he was also an All-Tennessee Community College Athletic Association First Team selection that season.

Buford moved up to NCAA Division I with Middle Tennessee for the 2014–15 and 2015–16 seasons, and in his first year with the Blue Raiders in 2014–15 he played 35 games with 13 starts while hitting 50.0 percent from the field and 47.4 percent from three-point range, finishing with 124 rebounds and 22 blocks and earning selection to the Conference USA All-Tournament Team.

That 2014–15 season included a career-high 29 points at UAB on February 28 while coming off the bench, and he also pulled down a career-best 11 rebounds on the road at Louisiana Tech on February 7 as his role expanded late in the year.

As a senior in 2015–16, Buford appeared in all 35 games with 30 starts and averaged 12.0 points and 5.9 rebounds per game, ranking second on the team in both rebounds and assists (69) while leading Middle Tennessee in blocks with 40 on the season.

He produced 22 double-figure scoring games and four 20-point outings that year, recorded double-doubles against North Texas (16 points, 11 rebounds) and at FAU (18 points, 11 rebounds), and earned Great Alaska Shootout All-Tournament Team honours after averaging 12.7 points per game across three games while adding 10 rebounds and five blocks.

Buford’s late-season run continued through March as he was named to the Conference USA All-Tournament Team again in 2016 after averaging 16.3 points and 6.0 rebounds across Middle Tennessee’s three tournament games, and he followed it in the NCAA tournament with 15 points, seven rebounds, and three blocks in Middle Tennessee’s first-round win over Michigan State.

By the end of his Middle Tennessee career, the program credited him with 40 blocks in 2015–16 and 62 career blocks, placing him inside the school’s single-season and career top-10 lists for blocks.