The Backyard Brawl this year will be a national telecast on ABC at noon on Friday.

OK, so what’s the big deal about that? Well, since Big East Conference football was regenerated following the loss of three programs to the Atlantic Coast Conference, the league has had only one national TV date for a conference game on ABC.

One more excuse to skip out on any “Black Friday” crap.

Relax. It’s for his senior year and he’s severely upgrading his competition.

Patterson will transfer to St. Benedict’s, a college preparatory school located in Newark, N.J., for his senior season, the New Era has learned.

“I wanted to go to a school that would get me better prepared for Pitt,” Patterson explained from his home Sunday night. “St. Benedict’s is a great school, and it has one of the best basketball programs in the nation. It felt like the right place for me.”

Patterson, who gave a verbal commitment to Pitt last fall, is ranked 15th in the nation among players in his age group by Rivals.com.

…

Patterson expects to split his time between shooting guard and small forward with the Gray Bees — the same positions he’s likely to play at Pitt.

He said he’s spoken to Pitt coach Jamie Dixon, who supports the move.

He’ll be playing for Dan Hurley — who Coach Dixon has twice tried to lure to Pitt as an assistant.

You can bet the folks in Lancaster won’t be thrilled, but this is great for his development as a player. It also means a lot more attention and coupled with the high recruiting ranking he has, Pitt is going to have to make sure to stay close to Patterson.

Can’t resist. I’m sure it’s just an aberration. Noting indicative about the community, the school or the team.

A University of Akron basketball player is accused of firing a gun at police following a traffic stop this weekend.

Rydell Brooks, 20, was arrested following a foot chase with Akron police just after midnight Sunday. Police said Brooks fled from the vehicle and fired shots at the officers in pursuit.

No other details of his arrest were immediately available. UA coach Keith Dambrot was not immediately available for comment.

Brooks, a sophomore at UA, is in the Summit County Jail pending an appearance in Akron Municipal Court.

A 2006 Buchtel grad, Brooks has yet to play for the Zips after transferring last season from Niagara University.

Sometimes local kids should just never come back home to play.