Softball link; Burns named SEC Freshman of the Week

Posted at 4:02 p.m. EDT – Eric Lindsey, UK Media Relations

• In light of the UK softball team’s first NCAA Tournament selection, UK is getting some major publicity, not only locally but nationally as well. Graham Hays of ESPN.com writes about UK’s first appearance and even calls UK a Women’s College World Series sleeper. How about that? Imagine what kind of story that would be if the Cats, playing in their first NCAA Tournament, somehow manage to make it all the way to Oklahoma City, Okla. Hollywood’s best writers couldn’t have scripted that after UK’s 17-win season last year.
• Baseball’s Andy Burns was named Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week for his performance last week. Burns, an infielder from Fort Collins, Colo., batted .300 in UK’s three games against Auburn, leading the team with four runs, four RBI and four walks. While helping the Cats to a 2-1 weekend, the first series win over Auburn in Lexington since the 1989 season, Burns added a double and a home run during the home stand.

Patterson’s heart was always with UK

Updated at 3:30 p.m. EDT – Eric Lindsey, UK Media Relations

With his mother, Tywanna, and father, Buster, by his side, Patrick Patterson walked into the Kentucky media room, looked at the media mob room and turned away awestruck.

Patterson has been the center of attention since the moment he set foot on campus, but even he and his family were a little awestruck at the interest people had in his decision to return to UK for his junior season.

“Today feels like the first day of recruiting when he was at Huntington High and he was deciding he was coming to UK,” Tywanna Patterson said. “When I came in, I was surprised to see all you guys here.”

Even if they haven’t quite grasped the magnitude of Patterson’s decision, the rest of the Commonwealth already has. With the announcement of his decision to return to Lexington, UK has instantly become one of the favorites to compete for a national championship next season, one of three factors Patterson gave for coming back.

“I knew in my heart that I wanted to come back for next year,” Patterson said.

That’s why, despite the likelihood of becoming a top-20 pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, Patterson ignored phone calls to his house and decided not to work out for any NBA teams. Along with winning a national championship, Patterson wanted the chance to play under new head coach John Calipari and have the opportunity to get his degree in three years.

“It came down to having the opportunity to get my degree next year,” Patterson said. “Not many people have that chance, that opportunity to get your degree in three years. I always talked about coming to college and getting my degree. That’s the first thing I said when I signed with Kentucky. My family wants me to get my degree so that was a key factor in me coming back.”

That’s not to say Patrick Patterson was never seriously weighing the NBA. He said he wanted to go at first and had the support of his parents and Calipari, who decided not to speak at the news conference to keep the focus on Patrick.

After hearing Patterson’s concerns of being on his own with an NBA franchise, Tywanna Patterson said she and Buster would have likely moved with Patrick wherever he wound up. She fielded calls from NBA scouts at home in Huntington, W. Va., wanting Patrick to go work out for teams, but once she heard what Patrick’s intentions were, the Pattersons were wholeheartedly behind him. 

“When he said, ‘Mom, my heart is at Kentucky,’ that just blew me away. I cried,” Tywanna Patterson said.

Buster Patterson was just as supportive and wanted Patrick to be able to proudly stick his chest out at graduation, a dream few get to live.

“I told him it was like your prom,” Buster Patterson said. “Once you leave, you can’t come back and get it.”

That’s not entirely true as other athletes, a la Vince Carter, have come back to school to get their degrees. But Patterson wasn’t ready to make that step yet. He wanted to get his degree first and foremost.

And then there’s all that national championship talk. Looking at UK’s potential roster for next season turned out to be too good of an opportunity to pass up.

“Looking at that, the team we could possibly have next year with all the weapons we have coming in, that helped also,” Patterson said. “Hopefully Jodie (Meeks) will come back too. Hopefully we can make a run and bring a national title back to Kentucky.

It didn’t have as much to do with never having played in the NCAA Tournament, he said, as much as it had to do with the bigger picture of winning it all and improving. Learning and developing under Calipari’s offense, Patterson said he hopes to improve his ball handling, his footwork, his foot speed and his jump shot, which he got a taste of in the spring workouts.

Under Calipari, whether it’s a year or two years – Patterson didn’t rule out coming back for his senior season of eligibility – he hopes to reach the talent level of NBA stars like Dirk Nowitzki and Chris Bosh.

With Patterson staying put and the signing period rapidly wrapping up, the next stop on the agenda appears to be the status of Jodie Meeks.

Conventional wisdom indicated that Patterson was the bigger toss-up of the two since he was tabbed as a higher draft pick by most NBA gurus, but Meeks has yet to tip his hand and has until June 15 to withdraw his name from the NBA Draft.

Even though they’re roommates, Patterson said he didn’t even tell Meeks of his decision until Meeks text messaged him the other day. All he got out of Meeks was an “OK.”

“I didn’t want to provoke his decision,” Patterson said. “I wanted him to make his decision on his own.”

Morning notes

Posted at 10:40 a.m. EDT – Eric Lindsey, UK Media Relations

• Slight clarification for the softball team’s first NCAA Tournament appearance. Because Brigham Young can’t play on Sundays, the Columbus Regional which actually be played Thursday through Saturday instead of Friday through Sunday. The UK-BYU game will be Thursday at 5 p.m., followed by Ohio State-Canisius at 7:30 p.m.
• Patrick Patterson, who announced Friday of his intentions to withdraw from the NBA Draft and return to UK for his junior season, will hold a news conference at 1 p.m. to discuss his decision. Head coach John Calipari is expected to be there as well as Patterson’s family. We’ll have some coverage following the news conference.
• The baseball team’s season is on life support entering the final week of the season. UK took two of three from Auburn at home, but Vanderbilt, the only team UK can catch at this point for the eighth and final spot in Southeastern Conference Tournament, also won two of three, meaning UK did not gain any ground this weekend (in fact, the Cats nearly lost ground until a late Georgia rally prevented the Vandy sweep). Entering the final weekend, UK (11-16 SEC) remains a game and a half back of the Commodores (12-14 SEC). UK has to win at least two games at Florida to get in. Even then, Vandy would have to drop all three against struggling Tennessee. If Vandy wins one of the games vs. the Volunteers, UK would have to sweep SEC East Division leader Florida in Gainesville, Fla. Basically, Vandy controls its own fate. It’s certainly not a situation the Cats relish, but they do still have a pulse, even if it’s a faint one at that.