During his high school years, Tyler Trillo flourished at Terryville.
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| Trillo (University of Arizona athletics) |
When not at Terryville, Trillo honed his skills with the Bristol-based Connecticut Passion AAU program. All the hard work Trillo put in helped him walk on at the Division I University of Arizona.
There have been several injury issues with the Wildcats this season, and that has given Trillo the chance to play.
Trillo played 13 minutes in Arizona’s 79-57 home win over the University of California at Irvine on Tuesday night. He only took one shot and missed it. Trillo did dish out two assists, and he also earned praise from head coach Sean Miller.
“He did a really good job,” Miller said in the postgame interview. “He takes care of the ball. Tonight he had zero turnovers in 13 minutes…he knows his role and he is out there for the right reasons.”
Miller went as far as calling Trillo his eighth man. That’s pretty amazing for a guy who comes from Terryville.
Trillo played in his first game on Nov. 18, ironically against Sacred Heart University from Fairfield. Trillo missed his only shot, but also recorded the first two assists of his career. Trillo has four assists and no turnovers in three games played this season.
Before going out to Tucson, Trillo played his freshman season at Division III Roger Williams in Rhode Island.
How does Brendan Phelps, Connecticut Passion founder and St. Paul associate boys basketball coach, feel about Trillo? Just read the following:
“Peep my guy @TylerTrillo making waves out west!” Phelps wrote in a Twitter post.
Phelps always spoke highly of Trillo when I talked with him in my time as a sports reporter. Now Trillo is having an impact at the Division I level of college basketball. Trillo spent plenty of time with the Passion in St. Paul’s gymnasium, but now he plays in front of thousands of people in the McKale Center on the campus of the University of Arizona.
It’s a pretty amazing story, and it’ll be a neat one to follow.
