Blake Trilli has been adding to his family’s legacy at Munster.
The 6-foot-1 senior guard is following in the footsteps of his brother Brandon, who starred for two seasons before graduating in 2023, and his father, Mike, a former standout who graduated in 1989. His uncle Kevin also played for the Mustangs and graduated in 1987.
Blake Trilli appreciates the history.
“It’s sweet,” he said. “A lot of people recognize us for it. I like it. It’s cool. A lot of people are like, ‘Oh, you’re Trilli. I remember watching your dad in 19-whatever,’ like super fans here.”
Trilli’s family moved to Munster from Arizona during the late spring before his freshman year. Trilli’s mother, Tammy, is from Phoenix, and his father received an MBA from Arizona State after graduating from Purdue and spent more than two decades in Arizona.
Blake Trill and his brother played for Munster together for parts of two seasons.
“We grew up playing together, so playing with him in a varsity high school game was really cool,” Trilli said. “It was a great time, and obviously he did really well and had a very good career.
“We’re really close. He’s probably the closest person in my life. We have a good connection. We always talk ball. We talk everything, really.”
Brandon Trilli, a sophomore at Northern Michigan, made an instant impact for the Mustangs. He became an Indiana Junior All-Star, an Indiana Basketball Coaches Association Underclass All-State Supreme 15 selection and the program’s single-season record holder for points. He followed that up with an IBCA Senior All-State Supreme 15 selection, and he finished his two-year career with 1,144 points, which ranks sixth in program history. He passed his father’s 1,016 points.
Mike Trilli has been savoring this final go-round with Blake.
“It was kinda cool when Brandon was a senior because him and Blake got on the floor together like my brother and I did,” Mike Trilli said. “Basically, the torch has been passed. If we were a relay team, Blake is the last leg of the relay right now, and we couldn’t be more proud of him.
“He plays hard. He plays the right way. One of the reasons we moved here, one of the litany of reasons, was to give both him and Brandon a taste of Indiana basketball. Now he gets a good taste of that, and he’s really enjoying it.”
This season, Blake Trilli has been getting his biggest taste yet with the Mustangs (5-5), who have won seven straight Northwest Crossroads Conference titles and 36 straight conference games heading into their NCC opener on Jan. 10. He’s averaging 9.4 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.3 assists.
After playing sparingly as a sophomore, Trilli started last season and posted 5.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists. But he was further down the pecking order with seniors such as David Cundiff, Nolan Kinsella and Jermaine Coney on the team.
Trilli has embraced his prominent position this season.
“I put in a lot more time in the offseason,” he said. “Knowing I’m going to be an important player this year, it means something to me. So I wanted to put more time into it so I’m not just some player. I want to be the good player.”
Trill also wants to be a leader.
“I’m trying to communicate more to the team,” he said. “Me and Josh Malloy are the only returning starters, and Tyler Fuller is a returning player too. We’ve all been talking, like, ‘Take your deep breath, it’s going to be OK. Play your pace because everyone is getting sped up.’ So we’re just trying to be the leaders when things are getting hard or it’s a close game.
“We’re going to try to get the ball, take care of it. We’ve been in those positions, and some people haven’t.”
Munster coach Mike Hackett described Trilli as “the captain of the captains.”
“We’re leaning on him a lot this year,” Hackett said. “His role is a lot different than it was last year. Last year, he just kinda had to stay out of the way and let the seniors cook. Now he has to kinda be the guy. The ball’s in his hands a lot more. He’s having to try to score it a lot more.
“His role has just really expanded, and he’s doing a good job. It’s just difficult because the guys around him are very inexperienced. But I’ve been happy with what we’ve been getting out of him this season. As we get more experienced as a team, it’ll make his job a little bit easier. Right now, he has a difficult job.”
It didn’t take long for Hackett to recognize Trilli’s ability and potential.
“He definitely grew up in a basketball family,” Hackett said. “When he got here, when we watched him, it was very evident right away that he understood the game. That makes my job a little bit easier when you have a kid who’s a pretty skilled player but then also has a high basketball IQ.
“So Blake definitely has a high basketball IQ. He understands the game. He understands what I want. He understands what our team needs. He’s trying to be a leader too. There’s a lot on his plate. We’re asking him to do a lot. But if I didn’t think he could do it, we wouldn’t ask him. I have faith he’ll be able to do it.”
Fuller, a senior forward who is a South Suburban baseball commit, also expressed confidence in Trilli.
“Blake’s a great teammate and leader on our team,” Fuller said. “He wants to win and will do whatever it takes to win. When we’re playing, he knows how to keep us in the game and stay motivated.
“Even at practice, he’s a role model, especially to the younger players with his three previous years of varsity experience. Blake can bring the team up when it’s down, and he makes it fun to play on the court with him.”
In recent games, Trilli has seen more time on the court at point guard.
“He’s never played point guard in his life, and it’s just something where he picks things up and works at it and does a pretty darn good job at it,” Mike Trilli said. “That’s his whole attitude, whether it’s sports or life. He’s innately talented, and as parents, we’re excited about whatever he does. We feel pretty good that once he finds his true passion, he’s going to be pretty successful.
“The point guard thing is just funny. If you would’ve seen him five years ago, he just never really dribbled, he didn’t really have that confidence. But now because he’s been put in that position, he just goes out and does it. It’s cool to watch.”
Mike Trilli has been watching Blake do such things for years.
“We threw our kids into everything that we possibly could’ve growing up — swimming, tennis, golf, basketball, baseball, football,” Mike Trilli said. “And Blake was kind of a freak, and it kinda opened my wife and (my) eyes up.
“We threw him into the swimming program, which he never did, just a summer thing, and this kid was ripping off butterflies after never doing it. He was just crushing people, and his form was crazy, too, and we were like, ‘Wow.’ He’s just a very innate athlete, whether it’s swimming or baseball or golf.”
Blake Trilli’s time as a competitive athlete likely will be winding down. He said he’s interested in getting into sales, with Purdue and Indiana near the top of his list for college.
“Probably like a lot of families, we’ve been doing this basketball thing for a long time, watching our kids, AAU and school,” Mike Trilli said. “It’s really cool, and it’s been a little bit more special this year, seeing him on that court and saying, ‘This is the last time we’re going to be running around here.’ It’s been pretty neat.
“We just live in the moment and watch each play unfold and each game unfold. My mom goes to every game, and my sister (Lisa, a former standout gymnast at Munster) comes over (from Glen Ellyn, Illinois) with her husband, my brother-in-law, so it’s been pretty special for our family. It’s been a cool thing to do this season.”
