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.
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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.