Drew Trimble - '15 Forward, Lexington Christian - Recruiting

[JokersWild24]

Drew is a 6'8 forward from one of the 11th's rising teams, Lexington Christian Academy.

 

Check out his highlight video, permalinked

.

 

 

Also, check out a highlight tape from his Junior year, linked below in Post #4.

 

Though the injury bug bit him early this season, Drew was a warrior and played through it. He's been one of my favorite kids in the 11th to watch, and I personally feel as though he's a bit underrated.

 

Since he's been healthy, Drew has posted the following per game averages:

15.3 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 1.5 APG, 1 SPG, 1 BPG

 

As you can see, he's a kid who does a lot of things to fill the stat sheet and help his team win. A great area rebounder who is fundamentally sound in his block-out technique and is surprisingly quick off the floor, he also shows the ability to rebound outside of his area as well. One of his best attributes, aside from the toughness and intensity he plays with, is the way he wills rebounds to himself. One of those kids that old school coaches would say "has a nose for the ball", especially when it goes up. There's no better example of this than the rebound he grabbed against Newport Central Catholic's huge front line late in the Eagles' semi-final loss. With his team down and needing possession, the way he went up and took the ball from everyone else left announcers remarking, "that is a grown man's play right there" (1:48 in the highlight video above). His game is more than just the rebounding ability that stands out to observers about his game at this level.

 

His best asset is that he’s so fundamentally sound, and it’s such an easy assessment that nothing else is close. From a fundamental standpoint, there’ll definitely be no need to tinker with and/or rebuild his shot or any really any part of his game once he gets to the next level.

 

For one, he shows a nice touch from the range he'll need to shoot from at the next level, as I'm confident that he can easily shoot the ball with range past the three point line now. His form and mechanics are nice, especially for a kid who has grown so much lately.

 

Much like a name that lots of Kentuckians are probably familiar with, Drew is a kid who hit a HUGE growth spurt out of nowhere, transitioning from a 6’2 guard who was a marginal prospect into a legit 6’8 while retaining his skill and coordination.

 

If you saw any of Charlotte Court’s action on the AAU circuit two summers ago, then you may remember Drew as the skinny back-up 2 guard. The fact that he netted 40 in an AAU game while playing the guard spot should tell you all you need to know about his ball handling and perimeter skills. If not for the necessity of playing inside at the high school level, he could do more.

 

However, if you are worried about his development in terms of what he’s asked to do at this level, then fret not. I’m told that Coach Nathan Valentine, whose coaching ability I have a very healthy respect for and who knows a thing or two about developing kids at the collegiate level from his time playing and coaching at Transylvania, has definitely worked with him to prepare for life past the high school level. He’s still capable of and working on his ability to shoot off the dribble, which was already impressive to begin with.

 

As you’d expect, Drew’s also a solid ball handler for a kid his size, and both looks comfortable handing and shows solid decision-making with the rock. That’s one thing that doesn’t really show through in lots of his highlights, but again, that’s more a product of necessity and the system that he plays in and less a testament to his inability to do such.

 

As you can see from his highlight video, he's also an adept passer, and can hit cutters from the elbows or high post. He's quick enough once he puts the ball on the floor, and has a few different moves, including a floater, that allow him to finish over players who are bigger and/or more athletic when the help rotates over (see 1:01 to watch him go left and finish against Drew McDonald of NCC, and 2:04 in the highlight tape for his floater).

 

Drew has a summer birthday and is a bit of a "late bloomer" physically. That, along with a senior year that's been littered with some nagging injuries early, are two of the main reasons why he might be flying a bit under the radar. Drew would prefer to play at the Division One level, and most of his focus has been there so far. He seems open to the possibility of going to Prep School for a year to further polish his game, which shows that he's both determined and willing to do what it takes to improve his game. The United States Naval Academy seems to be the school showing the most interest at that level so far, though there are some others who may be in play as well. Should none of the aforementioned work out, Drew would still be interested in going to the D2, D3, or NAIA levels, but only if they have the curriculum he wants to get the degree he is interested in, as he is a serious student who will be looking to be a student-athlete who leaves with a meaningful degree. Academically, Drew is a superb kid who works hard in the classroom. His ACT scores and the like will be well above the threshold to qualify for most any school.

 

Not trying to nitpick, because he's definitely a great player, but I also like to talk about kid's weaknesses as well when evaluating them, so some things you'd like to see include how he'll improve once he's in a college's strength and conditioning program. As you can tell, he's a fairly skinny kid right now who'll probably need to add some bulk to be effective at the next level, but given his work ethic, that's something that really doesn't concern me.

 

As you can probably tell from the close-ups in his highlight video, he's not really a kid you look at and think "he's finished maturing physically". Should he bulk up and/or show some gains in his lateral quickness and leaping ability, I think all the rest of the tools are in place, as there aren't really tons of kids who are a legitimate 6’8 with his type of skills.

 

In terms of projections at the next level, the higher he goes in level the more likely he is to move back to 2 and 3 for all his minutes. At Division III or lower NAIA school, his height alone might get him some time at the 4, but he’s still going to project primarily a wing: a combo guy who can shoot the 3 or get rebounds and put-backs, who you can involve in a lot of plays that give him options for different shots and passes, and his ability to post will be gravy.

Edited February 19, 2015 by JokersWild24

[Casual Fan]

Joker, I love the way you get behind the kids in this region and shine a little light on them. Thanks for a great article on one of my favorite players.

 

Excuse a long and rambling post, but our family thinks very highly of Drew and his family.

 

Drew and my son were 5th and 6th grade teammates years ago at KBA, and have played each other in local leagues and competing school programs. Drew is a terrific kid, good head on his shoulders, from a great hard-working family. Hope your write-up helps him get noticed a little more, tho he's definitely on the radar for a few schools already. He really blossomed with Charlotte Court, a good example of AAU developing a kid’s game and confidence more than his school did.

 

True story. In one of the KBA summer youth leagues around 6th or 7th grade, Drew’s dad was coaching his KBA team when Drew went down with a broken wrist. Couldn’t play at all that summer, spent the summer shooting free throws for hours every day in his driveway ‘cuz basketball’s all he thought about. Nagged his father about playing despite the cast, dad wouldn’t allow it. The cast came off the night of the league tournament finals, Drew’s team against my son’s.

 

Drew’s dad had finally given into the nagging by promising that Drew couldn’t play in regulation but if it went to overtime he could play then. Frankly they expected to lose. We had the game by 3 with 6 seconds left when Darien Tichenor (who later starred at Henry Clay) hit a half-court prayer to force overtime. In trots Drew. Slammed to the floor when he gets the ball, he bounces up and hits two free throws. Couple minutes later he repeats the performance. Scored the only points of OT and won the league. Kid believes in practice and being ready.

 

Ticked me off at the time, btw.

[JokersWild24]

Joker, I love the way you get behind the kids in this region and shine a little light on them. Thanks for a great article on one of my favorite players.

 

Excuse a long and rambling post, but our family thinks very highly of Drew and his family.

 

Drew and my son were 5th and 6th grade teammates years ago at KBA, and have played each other in local leagues and competing school programs. Drew is a terrific kid, good head on his shoulders, from a great hard-working family. Hope your write-up helps him get noticed a little more, tho he's definitely on the radar for a few schools already. He really blossomed with Charlotte Court, a good example of AAU developing a kid’s game and confidence more than his school did.

 

True story. In one of the KBA summer youth leagues around 6th or 7th grade, Drew’s dad was coaching his KBA team when Drew went down with a broken wrist. Couldn’t play at all that summer, spent the summer shooting free throws for hours every day in his driveway ‘cuz basketball’s all he thought about. Nagged his father about playing despite the cast, dad wouldn’t allow it. The cast came off the night of the league tournament finals, Drew’s team against my son’s.

 

Drew’s dad had finally given into the nagging by promising that Drew couldn’t play in regulation but if it went to overtime he could play then. Frankly they expected to lose. We had the game by 3 with 6 seconds left when Darien Tichenor (who later starred at Henry Clay) hit a half-court prayer to force overtime. In trots Drew. Slammed to the floor when he gets the ball, he bounces up and hits two free throws. Couple minutes later he repeats the performance. Scored the only points of OT and won the league. Kid believes in practice and being ready.

 

Ticked me off at the time, btw.

 

 

Thanks, much appreciated. It's really rewarding to do what little I can to try and help people get recognition, and that's the best part about covering the 11th. There are tons of talented kids, so you don't really have to just talk about one or two kids or blow tons of smoke on kids who aren't up to it in the end.

 

I'm a big fan of Drew Trimble's game and really believe that he winds up making a nice 3 for someone. He's an easy kid to get behind. The fact that he hasn't gotten more interest than he has is kind of baffling to me.

 

At the same time, I think it's understandable given that he had to sit behind Brad Calipari for so long despite being more talented.

 

Would definitely be interested in seeing how his career would have turned out if he'd been at a school where he was used the way that Coach Valentine has developed him this season, or even scarier, one of the bigger publics like Lafayette (where he'd have been on the wing with Davis and Jenkins on the blocks), Scott County (where he and Martini could have played the 3/4 roles while Long was there), some kind of situation like that.

 

It's always hard to justify having a 6'8 kid playing out on the floor when you are trying to win high school games, especially when you don't have any kids that are that size or larger to play inside (I know LCA is big, but he's their tallest kid pretty easily).

 

I think Coach Valentine is doing a great job in terms of playing him and using his to best help the team win while also helping him prepare to transition to the next level. The hardest part about that for someone like Drew though is that the latter portion isn't really visible to as many people because they don't get to see it as much in games. Because of that, combine type events and the summer evaluation period for unsigned seniors (if he isn't signed by then) will probably be really important for him. Those are later though and for now, I'm sure Drew, Rose, and all the kids at LCA are more worried about the next game with Lafayette more than all of that.

[JokersWild24]

Here's a highlight tape of some of Drew's junior year that I found on Youtube. I think it does a good job of showing the range on his shot. Remember, this is from his Junior year.

 

[JokersWild24]

Was told that Mr. Trimble is expected to be in Annapolis this Thursday and Friday to visit the University of Navy. Good vibes your way Drew.

[GreatLakes]

Nice player, better change "University of Navy" before you upset some people :facepalm:

[JokersWild24]

United States Naval Academy... my apologies.

[Clyde]

What schools are showing interest? 6'7ish with a stoke is a nice package.