Indiana basketball freshman forward Trent Sisley earning high praise from impressive summer

Throughout the entire summer for Indiana basketball, there has been one lone freshman on campus for workouts and practice — four-star forward and Indiana native Trent Sisley. While eventually he will be joined by international classmates Aleksa Ristic and Andrej Acimovic, Sisley has been the young prospect in the gym for the Hoosiers the last few months.

Yes, Trent Sisley is the “new kid on the block” when it comes to the college scene, but in all reality, it feels as though he has been a part of the program for long time by this point. He had reputation of being one of the best prospects in the state in the 2025 high school class which resulted in him being recruited by the previous staff before he even played a single high school game.

Fast-forward to the many visits he made to Bloomington over the years and his eventual commitment to the Indiana basketball program, Sisley feels like the only player that carries just a bit of the old history to this new era for Hoosiers.

Regardless of Sisley being arguably the most well-known player of the fanbase on this roster, most freshmen come into every summer with a learning curve that they have to face. Sisley, however, is not like most freshman due to him spending his senior year of high school down at Montverde Academy in Florida — arguably one of the best basketball prep schools in the country when it comes to developing talent and a place that Indiana has built a pipeline to.

“Yeah, I think the competitiveness was one of the biggest things for me, and then just being away for that year really got me ready to be in college, be living out of college, stuff like that,” said Trent Sisley when speaking to the media earlier this week. “And then just the traveling, the scouting reports, the weights, everything like that, all the detailed stuff that you don’t really have at some levels of high school.”

With him spending a full year at Montverde Academy and improving in multiple key areas of his game, Sisley has come into these summer workouts for Indiana basketball with an advantage that most freshman like him simply do not have.

“Trent’s done a great job. The first couple of weeks he was really impressive,” said Indiana basketball head coach Darian DeVries when speaking to the media. “He wasn’t one of those guys that came in and looked like a freshman. I think he’s learned very quickly.”

“I don’t know if that’s just being around a lot of older guys that he’s been able to do that, because in the summertime, everything is like it’s going in warp speed,” DeVries added. “We don’t wait much. We kind of throw a lot at them, and that way they kind of have everything and we’ll work our way backwards almost, which is, for Trent, your head can be spinning a little bit. But I think he’s done a really good job of coming in, figuring out the college game and the speed of it. He’s adjusted well, and I’m really excited about what he’s doing.”

The way Indiana head coach Darian DeVries spoke about Sisley suggests big things for the freshman forward and possibly a key role this season. Not only has Sisley impressed DeVries and the coaching staff, he has been one of the surprise players for his teammates, as well. Indiana basketball senior guard Conor Enright, who has little history with Indiana being that has brother went to school there, had high praise for Sisley.

“Obviously you never know what you’re getting with a freshman, especially because, like, I committed in April, so it’s not like I was keeping up with Trent in high school and whatnot, but he’s been really good,” said Conor Enright. “He’s a really hard worker, good at better athleticism than I thought.”

“He’s built to be able to play right away if he needs to.”

More: Timeline ‘up in the air’ for two Indiana players dealing with injuries ahead of foreign trip to Puerto Rico

For as talented as what Trent Sisley is as a young player, there are still things that are different in college versus the high school playing level, even if he did attended an elite prep program. That is the nature of the transition. Physicality is a big difference at this level of basketball as you are playing with and against guys that have been at this level for years and do have a leg up on you age and experience-wise.

Sisley did certainly feel the physicality shift when summer started, but at the end of the day, he realized it’s just basketball and the work he puts in will help him adapt.

“It’s just obviously the physicality and stuff the first few days, learning everything was tough, but now it just feels like basketball again,” Sisley said. “Obviously you’re still trying to get better at everything, but it just feels like basketball. You come into practice and you’re trying to get better and carve out your role.”

“Obviously everyone’s pretty physical,” Sisley added. “Obviously the Big Ten is going to be super physical. It’s one of the most physical conferences in college. Coming here so far, you know, we’re lifting a lot. I think I’ve gained a little bit of muscle, gained a little bit of body weight, so stuff like that, and then just trying to be as physical as I can on the court.”

Along with adapting to the physicality on the floor, Darian DeVries has had Sisley work on some skillset things in his game, mostly with stretching the floor, which has already seen massive improvements over the recent years.

“Just keep repping out my shot, get a bunch of reps in on that, and then just learn his system inside out,” said Sisley. 

While only being a freshman, Sisley looks to be ahead of the curve in many ways. Along with what he has shown this summer, he also carries a good amount of weight in being the lone guy from the state of Indiana. He has taken on that responsibility of bringing all new guys together to help them know what it means to wear that uniform.

Trent Sisley has created a great bond with his teammates this summer and proved that he belongs with what he has done on the floor. He will look to carry what he has built over this summer with him to Puerto Rico next week.

“I’ve kind of told these guys some recruiting stories,” Sisley said. “Coming up here, just being recruited for three, four years now, and then obviously me choosing to come here is super cool to me, and then hopefully all these guys know that too.”

“Then all of us chose Indiana for a reason, chose to come with Coach DeVries and the staff. So we’re all having fun so far this summer, and then we’re excited for Puerto Rico.”

Below is the full Q&A with Indiana basketball freshman forward Trent Sisley.

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