Danielle Patterson was already getting major college interest even before she suited up as a high school basketball player.
She was on the radar in junior high as a potential Division I girls’ basketball prospect, and now that college is only a few years away, her recruitment as one of the nation’s top juniors is really picking up.
Patterson has home visits set up with coaches from St. John’s, Ohio State, Virginia, Baylor, Wisconsin, Rutgers, Florida, Notre Dame, and Duke in September. She holds numerous other scholarship offers, including interest from juggernaut UConn.
“I’ve always heard it, ‘the visits are coming, the visits are coming,’ ” she said. “They are finally here now. They came fast.”
Adding to the national exposure is the fact that the 6-foot-3 Patterson is transferring to Mary Louis from Medgar Evers and finally getting to play in the acclaimed Catholic High School Athletic Association Brooklyn-Queens division. She had originally considered the Queens school before deciding to follow former Falcons coach Mike Toro to Bishop Ford. But when Bishop Ford closed at the end of the 2013-14 school year, she opted for Mary Louis, giving the transfer a feeling of being fated.
“How things work out is really weird,” Patterson said. “I was supposed to go to Bishop Ford. At the time, I was thinking about Mary Louis. Now to end up back at Mary Louis, it’s like, ‘it was suppose to be.’ ”
She is preparing for it all the only way she knows how — by testing herself against the best and expanding her game. Patterson played with the New Jersey Sparks in the top-flight Nike EYBL AAU Circuit. When home, she is in the gym working with former St. John’s assistant coach-turned-trainer Priscilla Edwards, running through various ball-handling and shooting drills in a steamy St. Claire’s gym in Rosedale.
“She wants to be great, so her work ethic is tremendous,” said Sparks coach Keith Gilchrist.
Patterson has to prepare even more because of her size. She is more of a small forward or even power forward in high school. In college she will mostly likely be a small forward or shooting guard.
For her, that means balancing working on her inside game and guard skills to ensure she is ready for everything asked of her. Gilchrist said Patterson doesn’t get enough credit for her mid-range jumper and ability to defend smaller players on the perimeter.
Working with Edwards, a guard, allows her to improve all-around, and her natural instincts let her use those abilities when best needed.
“If a girl is 5-foot-8 and I’m 6-foot-3, I am going to play a post game,” Patterson said. “If the guard I’m playing is six feet, and I know I’m stronger and I can get by them, then today I am going to play a guard’s game.”
She can score from anywhere on the floor and is also an excellent rebounder. It’s something she showed during her time at Medgar Evers. Patterson averaged 17 points and seven rebounds as a sophomore and led the Cougars to a playoff victory.
The stakes and competition get raised as she heads to Mary Louis to challenge for the school’s first diocesan title. Hilltoppers coach JoAnn Arbitello-Pinnock said her players are excited to have Patterson, and senior guard Jasmine Brunson wishes she had come earlier.
“It takes a lot off of me,” Brunson said. “The two-man is going to be great … I’m upset that I only get one year with her.”
Nearly every team in the league features multiple Division I-level players. It’s added pressure that Patterson is comfortable with, and a new experience should thrive in.
“She is the type of kid that wants the ball in those type of situations,” Gilchrist said. “She wants to play against the best, and that is only going to help her go to another level.”
All of it has Patterson excited. She expected what comes with being an elite player even before her high school career began. She can’t wait to experience it all.
“Sometimes it can be overwhelming and other times it can be very fun,” Patterson said. “It’s something I’ve been looking forward to. Ever since I started playing, it’s been a dream of mine. Seeing it come true, it’s like, ‘wow.’ ”
