Lessons Learned – Sisley Better Prepared for Upcoming Season

Sunday, October 11

Indianapolis, Ind.

6:30 PM

Indiana University

Butler (Exhibition)

Lessons Learned – Sisley Better Prepared for Upcoming Season

10/11/2026 10:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Wiser? Trent Sisley certainly is. Better prepared for Big Ten basketball battles and what it will take to thrive on this upgraded Indiana team? The second-year forward is all of that.

"I'm just more comfortable with everything," he says. "I know what to expect now. I know how the season goes.

"It's long season. There are flows to everything. Some stuff can be good. Some stuff can be bad. I'm trying to hang in there and provide what I can for the team.

Last season, the 6-foot-8, 225-pound Sisley provided averages of 4.2 points and 2.8 rebounds in 13.2 minutes while shooting 43.0% from the field, 53.8% from the line, and 27.1% on 3-pointers.

After a strong start that included a 15-point, five-rebound effort against Marquette and a 14-point, nine-rebound performance against Bethune-Cookman, his role diminished. Over the season's final eight games, he played a combined 37 minutes, scoring just seven total points. Some players, in this transfer portal era, might have used that as a reason to move on. Sisley dug in to get better.

"The biggest lesson I learned was just the length of the season," he says. "Obviously, my role went down a little bit throughout the season. Nothing's guaranteed, so you've just got to stay locked in, stay ready, stay being a good teammate. If you do that, opportunity will come."

Opportunity, in this case, starts with defense.

"For me, just being able to guard the ball a little bit better, staying in front of the ball and being more physical in the post when I'm on the floor," Sisley says. "It's like, no easy catches in the post and being able to hold my own."

Offensively, he adds, it's "just continue knocking down shots. I think my shots made great strides throughout the offseason. In the last month or two, I'm more comfortable with the looks I'm getting."

Sisley is one of only two returning players -- 6-foot-9 forward Sam Alexis is also back after regaining NCAA eligibility -- on a rebuilt roster rich in promise, skill, size, and experience. There are three 7-footers (Samet Yigitoglu, Aiden Sherrell, and Clemens Sokolov), standout transfer guards such as Markus Burton from Notre Dame, Jaeden Mustaf from Georgia Tech, Darren Harris from Duke, and Bryce Lindsay from Villanova and talented freshmen (Prince-Alexander Moody, Trevor Manhertz, and Vaughn Karvala).

It's all part of the nation's No. 8 transfer portal class highlighted by five players with Power-5 conference starting experience.

"Coach (Darian DeVries) did a good job in the portal finding guys that kind of fit his play style, but also guys that can do more things, too," Sisley says. "And they're all just good guys in general.

"Meeting all those guys and trying to grow a bond with all of them has been great. That will translate to the floor."

DeVries and his staff learned invaluable lessons from last season's 18-14 Big Ten debut. A big one was the importance of physicality. Practices reflect that.

"They've been a little bit more physical just because coach has been harping on that," Sisley says. "It's rebounding, more physicality, and there's a little bit more competition at this point. That's been good as we start to ramp up for the season."

During this week's Big Ten media gathering in Chicago, DeVries emphasized that approach.

"Physical and tough, that's what we have to be," he says. "That's what we try to recruit to, it's our approach every day in practice. We want a physical, tough, gritty (team)."

The result -- "We've had some fun practices."

"The Big Ten is as physical a league as there is in the country," DeVries adds, "so you have to be able to match that. We did that with our recruiting."

Four summer international games in Peru -- all blowout victories against Peru, Chile, and the Virgin Islands (twice), plus a decisive exhibition win over Team Canada at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall -- provided early team developmental opportunity that should pay off during the upcoming season.

"It definitely helps," Sisley says. "Just the amount of practice time we got in the summer compared to normal, and then playing five on five with referees, getting film, learning people's tendencies in real games, the bonding experience. All of that will be huge for us."

IU has three exhibitions set for this month – Sunday at Butler, Oct. 18 against North Carolina at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, and Oct. 25 against Western Kentucky at Evansville's Ford Center.

The season opens Nov. 2 against Eastern Illinois at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.

"I think all the exhibitions will be really good for us," Sisley says. "They'll all be really fun to play."

The game at Evansville is only an hour away from where Sisley's family lives in Santa Claus, Indiana. He attended Heritage Hills High School for three years before transferring to Florida's Montverde Academy.

While Sisley never played at the Ford Center, his brother, Blake, did while playing for a year at the University of Evansville.

"That'll be a great experience," Sisley says.