Trent Sisley commits to IU basketball. Here's what ex-Heritage Hills star will bring.

Trent Sisley commits to IU basketball. Here’s what ex-Heritage Hills star will bring.

Posted by Admin September 23, 2024 Basketball

Trent Sisley committed to IU basketball on Monday. The 6-7 Sisley, who grew up in Southern Indiana and played his first three high school seasons at Heritage Hills, is attending Montverde Academy (Fla.) for his senior year. The four-star prospect is ranked as the No. 78 national prospect in the On3 Service Industry ratings for the 2025 class.

What kind of player is Indiana getting in Sisley? Here are three takeaways:

Insider: Mike Woodson has gone where the talent is, and in 2025 class, that’s in his own backyard.

IU lands Trent Sisley commitment. Gives Mike Woodson in-state recruiting win.

Trent Sisley checks a lot of boxes

You might see words like “hard worker” and consider it a turnoff, or a replacement for talent … or something like that. I don’t. But I think those words are important to attach to Sisley because I have never seen him play at anything less than all-out effort. And I do think that will bode well for him as he makes the transition — and already has — to play with top-level national talent at his new school at Montverde, which was arguably the most talented high school team in the country last season and will again be this year.

How well he makes that transition could be an indicator of how he fits in next year in college. I believe Sisley will be a multi-year college player and potentially an impact player early on in his career. He fits the era of position-less basketball as a player who can step out and make 3-pointers (he shot 43% last year on the Adidas 3SSB circuit) and guard multiple positions. Adam Finkelstein, director of scouting for 247Sports wrote about Sisley:

“Overall, Sisley may not have the glaring upside of some other top prospects, but he’s a versatile, competitive and productive two-way contributor who impacts winning, and projects likely to do the same thing at the next level.”

I agree with that assessment of Sisley. I also like that he has played multiple roles. He has been the main guy for his high school team for three years, been one of the main guys for his AAU team and will be in something of the same role now with his Montverde Academy squad.

Trent Sisley didn’t take the easy route

Don’t take this the wrong way: I wish Sisley was still playing high school basketball at Heritage Hills. I wish the prep school “thing” was not “a thing.” But there is part of me that thinks it would have been a lot easier for Sisley to stay where he was at Heritage Hills and try to make a run for Mr. Basketball and a Class 3A state championship. I think a lot of us would have preferred to see him do just that because he is a fun player to watch play basketball.

But part of me also appreciates Sisley made a tough decision that was no doubt unpopular around his school and hometown. “If you are a good player, you are always going to get a little bit of hate,” he told me in July when he made his decision. “You know before you do it that it’s going to be a controversial move. But some people may not understand the situation.”

Sisley, already the Heritage Hills all-time leading scorer with 1,715 points, felt like he needed to push himself in a different way to get ready for college. I’m not sure that is always the case for everybody; the jury is out how much it will help Sisley. But I think it took some courage to make that decision.

Insider: IU recruiting focus back in-state after years looking beyond Indiana’s borders

Winning an in-state battle

There were definitely times during Sisley’s lengthy recruitment where it felt like Purdue was going to be the pick. And though he is from Southern Indiana, which is not normally Purdue territory, Sisley always seemed like a perfect fit for coach Matt Painter’s program in a lot of ways. Painter has mostly been able to identify in-state talent over the past several years, filling the roster from last year’s national finalist team with players from Indiana.

What does it mean for IU to win an in-state recruiting battle with Purdue? We will find out. Sisley, almost since the beginning of his recruitment, was pursued by Indiana, Purdue, Notre Dame, Iowa and Michigan State. It is a good — and long — battle for coach Mike Woodson and Co. to win.

Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.