Recruiting Report: Trenton Russell (2017)

T.J. Rushing

November 17, 2015 @ 10:00 AM

<h2>November 17, 2015</h2>One of Kentucky's 15th Region’s best guards, Magoffin County 2017 Trenton Russell has been starting with the varsity since his 8th-grade season, and now as a as a junior is starting to see some recruitment come his way. “I’ve gotten some letters from Loyola-Maryland, they contacted me. And IPFW (Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne), they’ve been wanting me to come down for some camps, and they also messaged my dad - who’s my head coach - trying to get me down there. I’ve gotten some interest from the University of Pikeville, personal contact between me and the coach,” said Russell, who mentioned he’s hoping to see his recruitment come to a boil next summer. “I’m hoping I have a good junior season this year, and I get some looks and then when I play the 17U AAU season, I’m hoping to get a lot more looks then too.” the 6-foot-3 shooting guard spent his 16U grassroots season playing with local program Hoop Dreams. “I started with them as a shooting guard, and I was working a lot with my 3-point shot and dribbling. And I just worked a lot on defense, I had to get a lot quicker playing with them,” said Russell, who defined his style of play to PHK. “My strength is my shot, and then I can do a lot of dribble-drives and finish at the rim too. I need to get a lot quicker, like moving side-to-side. I’ve been using our VertiMax a lot lately and I’ve increased my movement and I’ve gotten a lot better with my vertical too. I think it will help me guard smaller guards and quicker people.” With his junior season just ahead of him, the four-year starter says his leadership role will have to increase this season. “I’m going to have to step-up and be more of a leader this year because we only have a few seniors and I started longer than anyone on the team,” he said. “I’m going to have to score 20-plus points per game pretty much. A personal goal of mine is to win districts this year.”