The True Meaning of Patterson Saying Yes to UK

Lwcat
Wildcats Thunder Senior Board Moderator

Patterson's decision to say yes to UK will effect the UK program in many positive ways. First, the timing of Patterson committing to UK is huge. The past several years has seen UK lose out on one highly rated frontline recruit after another.....UK fans have experienced so many recruiting disappointments in recent years that we lost confidence in Tubby as a coach. Then, riding in on a white horse came UK's knight in shining armor.....Billy Gillispie. A coach who brought passion, energy and a work ethic second to none....a proven recruiter. UK fans immediately saw a whirlwind of recruiting activity from Billy G. Great anticipation mounted as the signing deadline approached....fans heard about Sanchez, Hamga, Lucas and Patterson as all possible recruits for UK. Then suddenly on Monday Cat fans worst nightmare continued......Lucas to Florida....Hamga to UNLV.....Sanchez to Arkansas. Only Patterson was left.....Cat fans all knew that BCG was working hard on the recruiting trail, but it almost seemed like the Cats were jinxed. Most Cat fans hoped for Patterson, but few thought we would get him. Many said.....here we go again....as we tried to remember when we last beat Duke or Florida for a recruit. But this time, we knew one thing was different......it was Billy G doing the recruiting......could he pull it off?

Then Wednesday, May 16, 2007 at 3:45pm Patterson said YES to UK and we all knew that things had changed for UK's future. It marked a new era.....Patterson recruitment sent a message throughout college basketball that the Cats are back. We know that other big time recruits will take notice of UK's new exciting coach and his bringing in 2 highly rated recruits in Legion and Patterson in six short weeks. Importantly, the Cats beat two premier programs in Duke and Florida for Patterson.....a message has been sent....UK and Gillispie will be a formidable combination on the recruiting trail.

Now UK fans approach this next season with mountaintop excitement....a new coach that matches their love and passion for UK basketball.....and, importantly, a coach who will simply not be outworked on the recruiting trail!

So while Patterson is a terrific frontline recruit.....his saying yes means far more to UK......it was surely a confidence builder for BCG and gives him tremendous momentum as he hits the recruiting trail for 08 and 09 recruits. It was definitely a tremendous morale boost for the UK fan base that, indeed, great talent is heading to UK in the future. Already, Cat fans are seeing many of the top recruits in future classes listing UK among the schools they are considering.

So, Patterson's recruitment will have a positive snowball effect that many years from now......we can all say......I remember when our new coach closed the deal on Patterson and how that helped start UK back to the top of the basketball world.

Thank goodness Donovan said NO and Billy Gillispie said YES! And thank fully, Patterson said yes to UK. Because of those two saying Yes to UK.....the future for UK basketball looks very bright indeed!