After proving he was one of the top guards in Illinois last season, former Friar basketball player Trey Pettigrew has decided to transfer to Hillcrest Prep in Arizona for his final two years of high school. He averaged 15.0 points, 2.6 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game last season.
While the IHSA has experienced its setbacks in getting programs back up and running, Pettigrew’s decision was purely about basketball.
“It was really about being able to compete for a national championship and, to be offered the opportunity to do that at such a young age, I thought it’d be good for the taking,” said Pettigrew on a phone call with Wednesday Journal July 16. “Then obviously, exposure and notoriety comes alongside that so I thought it’d just be good for me.”
Pettigrew already has offers from multiple Division One schools of the likes of University of Illinois, University of Nebraska and Penn State University.
Last year, he and his teammate Bryce Hopkins led the Friars to the Sectional Finals before the IHSA canceled its state series on March 12. Hopkins and Pettigrew were a lethal tandem on the court but also developed a solid relationship off of it.
Pettigrew told Hopkins about the move and said his former teammate was supportive of his decision.
“He was just happy for me,” said Pettigrew. “He wants me to be the best player I can be and I told him I appreciated that a lot because a lot of people wouldn’t act like that towards something like this. But he’s really understanding about it. We will always have a relationship.”
Fenwick’s boys basketball head coach, Staunton Peck, did not return the Journal’s inquiry on this matter.
