There was no easing into high school basketball for Heritage Hills H.S. freshman Trent Sisley.
The 6-foot-7 forward had offers from Indiana and Purdue before he played his first game, and with the talent to back those offers up, Sisley was the center of attention every night in Southern Indiana.
Double-teams, physicality, you name it, they tried it.
“You learn how to play through that stuff,” Sisley told The Daily Hoosier.
The numbers Sisley produced tell the story. He did more than play through it — he thrived.
As a high school freshman Sisley averaged 19.9 points, 9.2 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.3 blocks, and 1.1 steals per game.
AAU basketball could have been a bit of a break for Sisley. If he had played with his age group, he would have been one of the top players on the Nike EYBL 15u circuit.
But instead he chose to be challenged in another way. Sisley is playing up a year for the Indy Heat against class of 2024 players, pushing himself against guys a year older, a year stronger, a year further developed, and a year taller. He didn’t expect things to come easy, and there have been challenges.
“It’s been pretty good so far,” Sisley said of playing up this spring. “There have been a few games where I’ve struggled with the physicality, but overall it has been pretty fun and I’ve been learning a lot.”
The challenge of playing against someone older and bigger than him is nothing new for Sisley. There were many tough days at home trying to hang with his brother Blake, who just finished his freshman season of college basketball at Evansville.
The age difference between Trent and Blake, who will play at Wright State next year, in many ways was a much greater challenge than what the younger Sisley is facing this spring.
“We used to play one-on-one in the driveway so you have to learn how to deal with someone bigger or stronger than you. I think it definitely has helped,” Sisley said.
Surrounded by high-level players, the experience this spring is also allowing him to play more free.
“AAU has been nice so far there haven’t been double-teams because you can’t just focus on one player,” he added.
One of the players who is opening up the court for Sisley is fellow class of 2025 IU target Jalen Haralson, who at 6-foot-6 plays point guard for the 2024 Indy Heat. Together the pair, both clearly on the high-major college basketball path, forms a clear top-two in the in-state class of 2025.
“He’s a great teammate,” Sisley said of Haralson. “Super fun to play along with him playing up. He can drive and create for himself and also create for others. He hits me (with passes), I hit him, it’s been super fun so far.”
Despite the challenges of playing up, Sisley doesn’t look out of place. Far from it, in fact. He has posted several games of 15 or more points this spring, and he is averaging nearly 13 a game while shooting 38 percent from three in Nike EYBL contests so far.
Three-pointing shooting has proven to be an early strength in Sisley’s arsenal. He made 40 percent from long range during the high school season on 52 attempts. The combination of his size and outside shooting ability is a key part of what makes him an attractive prospect at the next level. Sisley said he sees himself as a stretch-4 right now, but with his athleticism and skill-level, he clearly has a path to play more on the wing at the next level.
Indiana offered Sisley a scholarship before his freshman season began. Purdue offered as well, and he says Cincinnati, Northwestern and Tennessee have also shown interest to this point.
When it comes to IU, Sisley says the Hoosiers have done a good job making it clear he is a priority recruiting target. Most of the communication with Indiana is through assistant coach Brian Walsh, who was down at Heritage Hills to watch a workout last week.
“I think they’re very interested,” Sisley said of IU. “That’s what they’ve shown so far. They just want me to keep developing, and keep shooting the ball and keep getting more skilled.”
Still just wrapping up his freshman year of high school, Sisley is a long way from getting too serious about his recruitment.
“I’m thinking about it a little bit, but it’s hard at this point to think about narrowing it down or anything like that,” he said.
He does know one thing that will be important wherever he lands in a few years.
“I think we need to win,” Sisley said. Obviously you want to win wherever you go.”
You can watch some of Sisley’s spring highlights below. To see his freshman high school season highlight reel, GO HERE.
🎥: HIGHLIGHTS – Trent Sisley
Heritage Hills freshman Trent Sisley is playing up a class with @indyheatgymrats in @NikeEYB averaging 12.4 ppg while shooting 38% from 3pt range.
Purdue & Indiana were both at Heritage Hills this week to see @SisleyTrent pic.twitter.com/8M1yYtLCMi
— (812)-H🏀🏀PS! (@BbalEvv) April 29, 2022
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