Trent Sisley is transferring to prep school. In 2024, that is reality of high school basketball

One of the state’s top boys high school basketball players is going to prep school.

It should not be a surprise anymore when this happens. Trent Sisley announced Monday night that he is transferring from Heritage Hills to Montverde Academy in Florida and it should not send shockwaves through the high school basketball world like it did 10 or 15 years ago (especially considering the rumors the last couple of weeks that this could happen).

But in this case, considering Sisley’s family is rooted in southern Indiana and the 6-7 forward has long been considered one of the frontrunners (if not the frontrunner for IndyStar Mr. Basketball in 2025), it at least raises our collective eyebrows.

Here are three thoughts on Sisley’s move:

A quality option

Let’s face it: Not everybody has the chance to play for a program like Montverde Academy.

Last season, Montverde finished 33-0 and won the Chipotle High School Nationals (played at Brownsburg). That team featured players like the country’s No. 1 player, Duke recruit Cooper Flagg, Liam McNeeley (No. 10 player, UConn recruit) and three other players ranked in the top-25 in the country.

If you are a player like Sisley (rated as a four-star prospect and the No. 73 player in the class by 247sports in the country), that has to be enticing. Nothing against his team at Heritage Hills, but the players he will be playing with at Montverde are much closer to the talent level of his college teammates at Indiana, Iowa, Michigan State, Notre Dame or Purdue (he’s down to those five schools) than they would be at Heritage Hills.

I can’t say I’m familiar with Montverde’s roster going into next season but they have two top-20 players in the 2026 class and I am certain they will be one of the top teams in the country again going into next season.

Not an easy decision

I know some questions arose about Sisley when Heritage Hills pulled out of the Charlie Hughes Showcase at the end of June and missed the Top 100 Underclass over the weekend.

From everything I can confirm, Sisley was sick (abnormally high temperature and pneumonia) and unable to play. But obviously there was some truth to the idea that he might be leaving Heritage Hills. Also, I have been in touch with his father, Matt Sisley, and talked to others who know the Sisley family and know this was not an easy decision for a family that has deep ties around Santa Claus and in the Heritage Hills school system.

Obviously, this move takes Sisley out of the running for Mr. Basketball next season, a race that at one time looked like it would be Jalen Haralson vs. Sisley. Haralson transferred from Fishers after his sophomore year for La Lumiere, a prep school in LaPorte. Now, Greenfield-Central’s Braylon Mullins might be the frontrunner (and he might have been anyway at the rate he has progressed).

But Sisley certainly had the credentials to put himself into the mix. He averaged 24.2 points, 11.7 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.2 blocks as a junior and finished his career with several school records, including points (1,715).

I do know this was not a decision made in haste or without weighing the positives and negatives. Sisley believes he can make himself a better player by the time he gets to college. If he does, that will benefit himself and one of those five schools he is deciding between.

This is the reality of high school basketball

In 2016, I wrote a column about how much I hated to see high school basketball players in Indiana leave for prep schools.

It was purely for selfish reasons as I love to cover the most talented players in the state. At that time, Justin Roberts was leaving Pike for Findlay Prep in Nevada and Jaren Jackson Jr. was leaving Park Tudor for La Lumiere. I wrote this: “I’m sure high school basketball will be fine and we’ll be talking about a lot of other things come March. But it does dilute the product.”

And that’s sort of the same way I feel now. There was a time, probably a few years before that, when I wondered why D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera would possibly leave North Central as a senior for Oak Hill Academy when he was set to battle it out with Gary Harris and Yogi Ferrell for Mr. Basketball. Or why Jalen Coleman-Lands would leave Cathedral with two years left for La Lumiere.

But now? I’m not at all surprised. I don’t love it. The more talented the players, the better the product. The better the crowds, the better the game, etc. But look up and down the list of the top 50 players in the 2024 class. Players at a traditional high school, like Flory Bidunga at Kokomo, are the exception anymore.

I do hope – and expect – the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame will be able to get a replacement for Heritage Hills in the annual Hall of Fame Classic (looking at you, Jeffersonville) to go with Greenfield-Central, Warsaw and Fishers. This is the third year in a row it has happened with Ashlynn Shade leaving Noblesville after her junior year and Kanon Catchings leaving Brownsburg for Overtime Elite after his junior year.

I’m sure there will be people upset about Sisley’s choice. But hopefully that wears off quickly and people understand this is the nature of high school basketball in 2024. Some will stay. Some will leave. And the game will go on.

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