By JACOB POLACHECK
Trey Pettigrew, the 6-foot-3, 175-pound combo guard from Hillcrest Prep (AZ), says that five schools are recruiting him the hardest.
Ranked the No. 21 combo guard nationally by 247Sports.com, Pettigrew says that among the schools that have offered, Penn State, Nebraska, Illinois, Georgia and Missouri have been in contact the most.
He broke down each school for ZAGSBLOG by phone Wednesday evening:
Penn State: “That was the first school I ever got the chance to visit. I went down there and fell in love with the campus. It was great. I really like the Jordan Center a lot. That’s a great gym. My cousin goes there and plays volleyball, so I’m already kind of familiar with the school. Both of my parents went there, so I know a lot about it. When I got there, I got to look around, talk to the coach, coach [Pat] Chambers. It was a great experience. They have really high standards for their players to be great student-athletes so that’s important to my family. After that, it was just a great time with the coaches. It led me to believe that they have a lot of potential, for sure.”
Nebraska: “I got on the phone with them twice. It was pretty quick. They just let me know I have an offer to play there. I did a little bit of research. I actually have a friend that goes there right now and he’s a great dude. He’s said great things about the school, nothing but great things. They’re definitely on my mind too.”
Illinois: “Watching them grow was just crazy to me, seeing where they came from and just what they’ve done in two years. Also, what they’re going to do this season, if there is a season. It just shows that they put a lot of time and effort into recruiting. It meant a lot when they offered me because I knew how good they were and how good they want to be in the future because you don’t want to go backwards. I really like how they go after homegrown talent, so that was really important to me. It was special to me to get an offer from that state school since I’ve lived there my whole life.”
Georgia: “Georgia was big for me. Me and coach [Brian] Fish have actually been talking for a while. It was the first SEC school I got. Anthony Edwards is one of my favorite players to watch. He’s not even in the NBA yet and he obviously went to Georgia. I like their program. I like their style of play. I’ve been watching them for a while. Coach just let me know that I had an offer to play there. I really want to take a visit out there whenever I can, whenever they let us back.
Missouri: “I had a Zoom call with Missouri (Aug. 13) and that was actually when they offered. We talked a lot about their style of play. They had great videos to show me. They talked about their nutrition plans. That was a great talk. ”
Pettigrew has also received interest from Virginia Tech, South Carolina, Wisconsin and Purdue, among others.
Virginia Tech: “They have definitely been on me. Coach has been talking to me for a while.”
Wisconsin: “I talk to coach [Greg Gard] all the time, for sure. They’re definitely up there.”
Purdue: “I talk to coach [Steve] Lutz all the time, too. Me and coach [Matt] Painter have had some great talks too.”
Marquette and South Carolina have also been in contact.
“As of right now, there are some schools I’m checking out, Marquette, South Carolina, like I said. I definitely want to get the chance to go out there,” he said.
Pettigrew says he recently met with the coaching staff at Wisconsin via Zoom.
“That was a great talk too,” he said. “I’m glad I got the chance to talk to the coaches over there.”
In addition to Penn State, Pettigrew has also been on campus at Purdue for an unofficial visit (Feb. 27) and was in attendance for the Boilermakers 57-49 victory over in-state rival Indiana.
“That was really fun to watch,” he said. “I’m definitely glad I got the chance to go out there, talk to coach Painter and all the staff. I’m good friends with Nojel Eastern. I was already familiar with the program. It just showed me what I can see with these colleges, so I want to get out to more when I can.”
Eastern spent the last three seasons at Purdue before transferring to Howard this summer.
Once he’s able to, Pettigrew says he ‘definitely’ wants to take a visit to Georgia.
“I definitely want to get that figured out,” he said. “Once they start figuring things out I’m sure it will be a little bit easier, but right now we’re just figuring out where I want to take my officials and where I don’t.
“I would like to get back out to Illinois. It would probably be easier before I left for Arizona, but that’s one of the schools I want to hit up.”
After spending his first two years of high school at Fenwick (IL), Pettigrew announced he will be transferring to Hillcrest Prep (AZ) for his junior year.
“I’ve always wanted to play for a national championship,” Pettigrew said. “Growing up, watching basketball, that’s always been a big deal for me. I know I wanted to be a part of a national team.
“I didn’t know it would be this early. I watched a lot of college basketball. The March Madness tournament is always my favorite, so [with] them offering that opportunity, I just couldn’t pass up on it.”
Pettigrew will be joining forces with 2021 five-star forward Michael Foster for a Hillcrest team that went 30-5 during the 2019-20 season.
“We are beyond excited to have Trey here at Hillcrest,” said Hillcrest Prep program director Nick Weaver. “He is adding a scoring dimension to the program and [an] ability to make plays for others that we needed.
“Trey is a fierce competitor that plays both ends of the floor,” he said.
According to 247Sports.com, Pettigrew is ranked as the No. 4 player from the state of Illinois and the No. 147 overall player in the Class of 2022.
“A lot of people don’t know what’s coming this season,” he said. “It’s going to be a lot of fun. There are a lot of factors I’ve added to my game. I can do a lot of stuff I’d never be able to do just a couple months ago so that should be really fun to bring out.”
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