The End Of An Era: Reminiscing About Patrick

When he arrived, he was here to fill a huge void that had developed in the heart of the UK Program. We no longer had our strength, our spirit, our leader in the trenches. He stepped in and straightened his shoulders, picked up the load, and called for us all to follow. He stood by and carefully watched us craft the world around him, not once, not twice, but three times. He was young but determined when he arrived, and was solid as a rock.

His first year was his learning curve, all the while making the right play at the right time. Pushing and urging his teammates to do more, and to do it better. He played through pain and suffering, all the while getting nothing he had been promised before his arrival, but more work to do at every turn. He shunned no one who asked to shake a hand, not one photo, not one opportunity to put his school and adopted new home in the very best light he could. The NBA came calling every year, with experts saying he could go here, or there, and he listened carefully, all the while ultimately deciding that he wanted a diploma to go with his framed jersey to hang on the wall. He fought through injuries, bad coaching, poor decision making on the part of his school, and all the while, never lost sight of who he was, where he was going, or of the fact that he had a bigger responsibility to Kentucky than he ever wanted or was told he would have. He became a face of a program, then it's rock, and ultimately its shining example of how things should be done.

He never asked for anything in return, except his opportunities. He made the most of every one. He was a center, a forward, a guard, and even a taxi driver in his time here. Never complaining about the role, or the pressure, or the incessant boors that rear their heads once in a while. He made every decision with a sense of who he was and what he meant to himself, his family, and his school. He was quiet, intelligent, meticulous in his work ethic. All those things that basketball players are not supposed to be. He adjusted to every new challenge and every new situation like he had been there all his life. He worked harder than everyone else, both on and off the field, and made it show in all of those ways that really count. He leaves us now with nothing but the very best of memories, with all of his goals accomplished but one, and he did it in less time than most require just to figure out what they want to do with their lives. In the end, perhaps the best compliment I can give him is this. I would have been proud to stand beside him, behind him, or in front of him, to help him in any way I could, but that is one of the things about him that we all love. He didn't need help, he just needed a place to shine, and he shone brighter than any star that has graced this stage for a very long time. I have two daughters whom I could only hope and pray would bring home a young man like him to their mother and I. Not because he can dunk a basketball, shoot a 3, or block a shot into the 30th row up, but because he is what all young men should aspire to be......a class act, unrivalled in our program's history of class acts.....The only other thing to say is Thank You, Patrick Patterson. You are a champion in every sense of the word in my book. And you made me proud just to have seen you.