Patrick Patterson Press Conference Live Blog

by Truzenzuzex on May 16, 2007 3:48 PM EDT in News Comment 25 comments

Pat says "My hand is shakin'" His mom "Mine Too!"

OK, boys and girls, it's ~~fourth down~~ late in the second half with 5 seconds to play. It's time for the big one. UK shoots, and ...

SCORES!

That's right, folks, Patrick Patterson, 6'8" 235 lb. power forward is a University of Kentucky Wildcat!

They are signing the NLOI as I speak. It is done. His mother just said something like "I know some coaches are turning over right now", whatever that means.

I know of one for sure, and he has a widow's peak that won't go away.

Patterson's mother just asked the fans of the unfortunate non-UK schools to support her son's decision.

Dad is speaking now. Thanking everybody.

That UK hat sure looks good on him.

People just thanking Pat and praising him.

Pat said he talked to his family yesterday and decided. His fans around this area are a big reason why.

Said it was tough to pass up Florida and Duke.

Says he always liked UK and the fans and everything about UK. Says Gillispie "really cares about the basketball players".

Says he's happy it's over, he can be a kid now.

Was called by Alex Legion and AJ Stewart (told ya so)!

Distance was a big factor in the process.

Buddies were a big part - wants to see them play.

Wants to win the SEC tournament and national championship next year. Gotta love high hopes!

Said he wasn't "Clicking with the basketball team" at Duke like he was at UK.

Acknowledges UK fans. "I love you's" exchanged

Did click with Florida team, but not Duke.

No coaches told yet.

UK and Florida final 2.

Family and coaches asked him if he was 100% sure he wanted to go to Kentucky, and he said yes.

Glad he waited till the last day, built suspense.

Pat's all done. Clapping and cheers!

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Comments

I would not allow myself to think positive

but I am a very happy Cat Grandpa (nearly) right now!

by olddoc on May 16, 2007 3:50 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Thanks...

For keeping us posted. The KSR site is down from traffic overload. This is awesome!!!

by cthom on May 16, 2007 3:52 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Thanks ...

for coming by!

by Truzenzuzex on May 16, 2007 3:53 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

We ...

have all the bandwidth in the world!

by Truzenzuzex on May 16, 2007 3:53 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Orange and Blue Hue

Orange and Blue Hue might want to just shut it down for the day.

http://www.ukbias.com

by crjohn0 on May 16, 2007 3:53 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Oh, yes I will ...

be paying them a visit.

Hey, they are our pals. We gotta get their pitiful traffic up a bit over there.

by Truzenzuzex on May 16, 2007 4:04 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Start talking UF football....

you can't create fans out of thin air.

by blueblood on May 16, 2007 4:44 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

wow

on sunday, i was thinking we had lucas coming for sure, but not patterson...this is so much better.

GO BIG BLUE!! GO BIG BLUE!!

by UKWildCatFanatic on May 16, 2007 3:54 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Options

This gives Billy G much better options and flexibility with the lineup. Our guards can be awesome, but not without some inside help!

by cthom on May 16, 2007 4:00 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

this was huge

patterson, stewart, stevenson, carter, and williams is actually a pretty good frontcourt this year. young and loaded with potential. can't wait to see them in a couple years.

GO BIG BLUE!! GO BIG BLUE!!

by UKWildCatFanatic on May 16, 2007 4:10 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Patterson

Patterson coming is awesome!!!

KSR is back up.

Hopefully we are going to rule UF next year.

Glad Billy G could steal one from Billy D.

Florida phobia is over.

by davw83 on May 16, 2007 4:15 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

From Black Monday

to Wonderful Wednesday!

I am sure all 5 of UF's basketball fans are crying right now. I am even more certain that I feel no sympathy for them. :)

Go Big Blue!

by ForeverBigBlue on May 16, 2007 4:21 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Fun stuff ...

indeed. I can't get my mind around it right now. We have been disappointed so often, lately, it was like a never-ending cycle of frustration.

This kind of reminds me of 1998 when the Comeback Cats got revenge on the Blue Devils in the regional final.

by Truzenzuzex on May 16, 2007 4:26 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

against duke and florida is satisfying. i couldn't be happier with everything that CBCG has been able to accomplish. And we have an extra scholarship for 2008. our frontcourt is extrememly young, but how good will this team be in the future just looking at last years and this years class...really looking forward to this season.

GO BIG BLUE!! GO BIG BLUE!!

by UKWildCatFanatic on May 16, 2007 4:34 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Cuts down years on rebuilding process

Say what you will about Tubby leaving being good or bad... the amount of excitement following UK recruiting in the last month has been unlike anything I've ever seen. Picking up Legion and Patterson as well as a couple commits on down the road already... not a bad first month for Billy Clyde. I'd say snagging Patterson will have the same effect on UK that Pitino had by stealing Mashburn away; cut three years off the rebuilding process. Show all those talking heads out there that its still "cool" to go to Lexington and lead the way for future recruits.

by chirop1 on May 16, 2007 4:37 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

And that's to be expected.

Anytime you have a change of coach, the excitement is always special. I think this validates the effort of both Tubby Smith and Billy Gillispie. Both men did yeoman's work at getting Patterson to UK, and I think he would have come with or without the coaching change.

But to your point, I doubt if we would have had this much excitement if Smith had stayed and Patterson committed to UK. I doubt it very much, actually ...

by Truzenzuzex on May 16, 2007 4:51 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Of course it does ...

you just didn't and don't like Smith, a fact you have made repeatedly and abundantly clear.

Any coach in his right mind would try to recruit an uncommitted prospect for his new school.

by Truzenzuzex on May 16, 2007 5:18 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Meh...

Color me cynical but by and large I don't pay too much attention to recruiting or the hype surrounding it. Everyone is fawning over this kid now and he sure looks impressive. But all the hype doesn't mean anything until he plays.

I'm glad he'll be wearing a UK uniform when he does play, but I won't be excited until I see what he does in that uniform.

by Logan5 on May 16, 2007 4:52 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Always gotta be ...

a party-pooper in the bunch.

C'mon, man, get in the spirit here. At least fake it if you're feeling cynical, this has been a long time coming.

At least it's over. But whatever will I write about now?

I guess I could become a restaurant critic ...

by Truzenzuzex on May 16, 2007 4:58 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Bloody Freakin' Great

...

by Clandestine on May 16, 2007 5:31 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

BG is the real deal

Guys, don't forget that he played clean-up here and got two high stars to sign AFTER bringing in a dang good class at his last job.

He gets props in my book!

by wilson452 on May 16, 2007 5:46 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Did anyone catch the interview on KSR?

I'm still at work here in Seattle, can't really drop everything and listen in. Do they usually post a link to it later on in the evening?

by blueblood on May 16, 2007 6:11 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

to clarify...

the interview with brand new Kentucky Wildcat standout Patrick "beans" Patterson.

by blueblood on May 16, 2007 6:12 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

interview

I didn't catch the whole show but they said Patrick was busy with "family stuff" and that they would try to get him on tomorrow. They did talk to his Dad briefly, who stated that the decision was all up to Patrick and that being "close to home" was the biggest factor. Even though his Dad is a Duke fan, he closed the interview with "GO Wildcats!"

by cthom on May 16, 2007 8:11 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Thanks....

for the update. I imagine that PP was quite busy. I bet he really slept well last night. Wonder if he played hookey today. I think I would probably skip the rest of the week and go to Maui or somewhere that doesn't care about college basketball.

by blueblood on May 17, 2007 10:45 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs