Dunking in games since the seventh grade, class of 2025 wing Trent Sisley’s game has always been ahead of the curve.
Naturally, his college recruitment has followed along that same path.
Indiana offered the Heritage Hills High School (Lincoln City, Ind.) freshman on Tuesday, still a few days before he plays his first high school game.
Sisley reported the offer on his Twitter page.
After a great conversation, I am blessed to receive an offer from Indiana University! Thanks to Coach Woodson and Coach Fife. pic.twitter.com/SNCcggLBht
— Trent Sisley (@SisleyTrent) November 23, 2021
IU is the second high major program to offer Sisley, following in-state rival Purdue.
The recruitments of local phenoms can take on a life of their own in Indiana, but Sisley’s father Matt believes his son is ready for the wave of attention coming his way as he starts his high school career on Saturday.
“He’s handling it well. He’s pretty well grounded,” Matt Sisley told The Daily Hoosier. “He’s a super mature kid.”
Matt is a former college player and basketball coach, and Trent’s older brother Blake just went through this whole process before landing at the University of Evansville where he is a freshman forward. That deep basketball background has helped prepare Trent for the attention he is starting to receive, and understand the commitment that will be necessary to realize his potential.
“He sat at the table and watched Blake get offers, go places and not get offers, he knows how the whole thing works, and the amount of work it is going to take,” Matt Sisley said.
The Sisley family has deep IU ties, and they aren’t afraid to let that be known. From the grandparents on down to Trent, they are IU fans. But Matt Sisley doesn’t mind sharing that, because again, they know how the recruiting game works. Ultimately, both for Trent and the schools involved, the goal is to find a good match.
“You’ve got to go somewhere that fits your game, you’ve got to kind of take the fandom out of it,” Matt Sisley said. “But we’re very excited to get an offer from Indiana.
“We’re just taking the approach that with that offer from Indiana, being in-state, we’re just going to have to put in more work. That’s how we’re going to handle it. Same when we got the Purdue offer. I said ‘man it’s time to go, we’ve got to get better.'”
The family knows current IU guard Khristian Lander well since he was a former teammate of Blake, and they’ve been paying attention to the the playing style at Indiana since Mike Woodson took over.
“They’re picking up the pace, I couldn’t believe how hard they play,” Matt Sisley said. “The St. John’s game we watched, and we just absolutely loved how they got up and down the floor. They’re playing faster, and Trent plays fast. He’s an athletic wing who can just run all day long and play above the rim.”
Although Trent is already 6-foot-7 and could keep growing, the idea is not to have him play with his back to the basket in high school or AAU.
“I think he’s a hybrid-type wing,” Matt Sisley said. “Right now at the high school level he could play anywhere from the point guard to the post, but his natural position in the very end I think he’s going to be a wing, he’s going to be a three, unless he grows to be 6-foot-9 or 6-foot-10. But he’s just so athletic and he’s such a good ball handler in the open floor.”
Sisley is the second in-state class of 2025 player Indiana offered prior to their first high school game. Previously the Hoosiers offered Fishers High School point guard Jalen Haralson. Trent Sisley and Haralson are friends and they will team up and play up a year next spring and summer on the Indy Heat 16U EYBL squad.
Below are some highlights of Sisley. He played up a year in this summer’s Peach Jam on the Nike EYBL circuit.
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