Photo courtesy of Dave’s Joint
By David Cordova
This month, we are starting a series called, “Coming Into The Season,” in which every week, we will chronicle some of the best players in the tri-state area and beyond. This first story will be about Trey Patterson, who is rated as the No. 43 prospect in the Class of 2021 nationally by ESPN.
In the state of New Jersey, there is plenty of talented players from the guard positions to the forward positions and to the center position. All of those players certainly know how to hold their own. Tre’Von “Trey” Patterson is definitely one of those that stand out above the rest.
The 6-foot-8 forward is one of the best up and coming prospects coming from the Garden State and has been a star since his middle school days on the AAU circuit. He is a player that can bring the ball up the court and dominate against smaller players and can also make strong drives to the rim, where he is able to go up at will.
Although he is currently a top-50 prospect as far as the national rankings in the Class of 2021, there’s a chance that with his potential, that number can go higher and higher. But he’s not focused on rankings. He just wants to do great things on the court and get better.
When asked about what motivates him to be the best on the court, he replied, “You know, just being the best I can be, and one day, reaching my goal, which is becoming a professional basketball player, and I’m just working hard to achieve that goal.”
A native of Somerset, New Jersey, Patterson has made plenty of noise throughout the Garden State since he was in middle school and playing with Team Izod and later Team Rio. When asked about the basketball culture in New Jersey, he replied, “You know, in the past couple of years, there’s been a lot of good players that went to the League, and you know, I looked up to those guys since I was little, and I’m just trying to follow in their footsteps and one day make it to where they are.”
This spring and summer, he averaged 10.3 points and 5.9 rebounds per game for Team Rio on the Under Armour Association circuit. When asked about playing for Team Rio, the Central Jersey-based program named after former NBA player and Kansas great Mario Chalmers, Patterson replied, “I’ve been playing with Team Rio since I was in eighth grade, so it’s been a good experience for me, getting to grow and mature as a basketball player. Mike Rice has been very good for me, he’s a good coach, he’s been pushing me ever since I was in eighth grade, so I’ve been a good player ever since I started with Team Rio.”
This spring, Patterson was invited to compete at the NBPA Top 100 Camp at the University of Virginia, as he got to play in front of college coaches and NBA scouts. On his experience at the prestigious camp, he replied, “I was just trying to, you know, do what I do best, play hard, play to win and just have fun.”
At the present time, he is being recruited by plenty of major schools, amongst them are Memphis, Texas Tech, Stanford, Iowa, Washington, Indiana, Miami, Georgia, UConn, Villanova, Xavier and NC State, to name a few.
On his recruiting, he replied, “It’s going to be something new for me to experience. I’m just trying to play my game, and whoever likes what they see is going to recruit me.”
At Rutgers Prep, he has already made noise on the high school scene. As a freshman, he averaged 12.6 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. Last season, as a sophomore, he averaged 19.1 points and 9.4 rebounds per game. This upcoming season, he plans to expand on that performance even more.
On what can be expected from moving forward, he replied, “To play hard, play to win, always do my best to show what I can do on the court.”
This season, the Argonauts will be playing a tough schedule, which includes matchups against nationally-ranked Archbishop Stepinac (New York) on January 12that the Empire Invitational in The Bronx and national powerhouse Huntington Prep (West Virginia) on February 8that the Metro Classic in Toms River, New Jersey.
At this point, Trey Patterson is ready to shine on the national stage and take his game to the next level. This is his time to rise to the occasion.
davesjoint.net 