Malique Trent saw his stock rise as much as any other JC guard in the country during the second half of the 2014-15 season. Trent, a 6’2 guard at New Mexico JC, hit big shots all season and carried the Thunderbirds to the regional semi-finals in one of the toughest JC basketball regions in the country. He averaged 16 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2 assists per game this year.

Trent transferred to New Mexico JC from Norfolk State, where he sat out last season. He was a red-shirt freshman this season at NMJC, which means he will have three years of eligibility at the D1 level. As we’ve discussed on here before, players like Trent who have 3 years to play are always very intriguing prospects to D1 coaches. Trent is two years removed from high school and has successful college playing experience in one of the toughest junior college basketball regions in the country, but still has three years of eligibility. It is obvious why college coaches may go after players like Trent as opposed to a traditional high school prospect.

Trent recently informed JucoRecruiting.com that he is down to six schools and has set up official visits to four of those six. The schools that made his final list are Houston, TCU, Creighton, Tennessee, Kansas State and Colorado State. Of those six, Trent has scheduled visits to Houston on March 20, Creighton on March 27, TCU on April 10 and Tennessee April 17.

JucoRecruiting.com caught up with Trent and discussed his upcoming visits as well as what he’s looking for in a school.

With four visits coming up, we asked Trent what were some important factors when deciding on a school. He said, “I want to be able to build a bond with my teammates and coach. Unity, loyalty and honesty are all very important. I want to be able to come in and fit right in with the staff and team.”

When asked about a particular style of play that he was looking for, Trent said, “I just want to be able to come in and be a contributor and win. I’m open to any style of play.”

Trent said he currently doesn’t have a leader out of the four schools.  He elaborated on this by saying, “I’m not really leaning toward anyone yet, but after all of my visits I’ll talk with my family and coaches and go from there.” We asked Trent if any school stands out as far as giving him more attention than others. He said, “No, all four schools have great staffs and have been in contact with me almost every day. I hear from all four almost every day.”

We asked Trent about potentially setting up a fifth official visit and when he would do so. He said, “I haven’t set up a fifth visit yet because if I don’t really get what I expect from one of the four schools, I can schedule another visit. So it depends on how my visits go or any late signees, coaching changes, etc.”

It looks as if Trent will decide on one of the four schools where he has an official visit scheduled. I would have a hard time seeing him take all four official visits and then set up a fifth one, but it is possible. Most JC prospects who schedule multiple visits usually don’t make it through all four and end up committing on one of the visits. Trent does seem set on taking his time and getting a good look at all of the schools, so he could be an exception.