As a player for IMG Academy’s postgraduate basketball team this season, Trewston Pierce received exposure throughout the country. Wherever the Bradenton-based team played – from New England to the Rocky Mountains – eyes of college recruiters followed Pierce and his teammates.

“That was crazy. I’ve never experienced something like that. It felt good when they came to talk to you after the game,” Pierce said in mid-March.

Pierce, a 6-foot-3 guard from the Hollywood Reservation, finished his high school career last year at Fort Lauderdale High, where he earned First Team All-Broward County honors. With a strong desire to play Division I college basketball, he honed his skills this season at IMG, a school that attracts elite high school and post graduate student-athletes from throughout the world in basketball, baseball, football, lacrosse, golf, tennis and other sports.

“It’s the place to be if you’re an athlete and trying to get to the next level,” Pierce said, “but you’ve got to work hard every day.”

IMG’s roster included highly touted Florida State recruit Jonathan Isaac and Kenny Smith Jr., son of former NBA and college star Kenny Smith Sr. The team faced other top-level prep teams in showcases and tournaments that extended from Connecticut and Rhode Island to Colorado.

“I’ve never played against competition like this. It was crazy,” Pierce said. “We played against guys who have signed with Duke, Kentucky, Louisville.”

Pierce said schools that have shown interest in him include Florida State, Florida Atlantic, Florida International, Miami, North Florida, Temple, Tennessee, South Carolina and others.

He said he plans to sign with a Division I school in April.

“I’ve got to pick my top five and go from there,” he said. “It’s going to be big for us and my people.”