It’s been three years, but former Bruin Andre Patterson
has made the most of it.
A respite to contemplate and realize what he could have done
differently.
A year to get adjusted to his new home in Tennessee. A year to
help the Volunteers earn a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament after
going through four years of college without having made it.
It’s been three years, yet Patterson still wonders.
“I think about how (being at UCLA) would have been and how
I would’ve finished up my senior season,” Patterson
said. “I miss it still. I miss the fans, family and the
camaraderie.
“But you know what? It’s old news. I can’t
harp on it. It hurts though.”
The memories have been even more bittersweet this season as UCLA
and Tennessee are both No. 2 seeds in this NCAA Tournament. The
Bruins have rebuilt their program under coach Ben Howland, and
though it might be in the past, Patterson still can’t get
away from following his former school.
“Yeah, of course I’m still watching,”
Patterson said. “I catch a lot of them on satellite and Fox
Sports. In the Pac-10, I still root for them all the
time.”
The forward, who had so much upside to him coming out of
Washington Prep High School, will be starting for the Volunteers
today when they face Winthrop in first-round NCAA Tournament
action. Patterson, who has started nearly half the games this
season, is averaging 9.6 points per game and a team-high 6.6
rebounds per game, which is 11th in the conference.
It is just a part of the enormous potential he had when he was
recruited by former UCLA coach Steve Lavin. During his sophomore
season with the Bruins, he started 21 of 24 games and averaged 7.5
points per game and a team-high 5.5 rebounds. He led the Bruins and
the Pac-10 Conference with a 60.8 field goal percentage.
Troubled by academic distractions, however, Patterson’s
career at UCLA ended in the spring of 2002 when he was put on
academic probation for the second time in as many years.
“I miss it a lot of times,” Patterson said.
“When I see that commercial on television that’s
plugging UCLA, with the eight-clap and all, it’s
sweet.”
During this distressing and frustrating time, however, Patterson
kept in contact with Bruin redshirt senior Cedric Bozeman, who
entered UCLA in the same class as Patterson.
“Yeah we talked a lot,” Bozeman said. “It was
a struggle for him. He didn’t want to leave on those
terms.”
Going through adversity early in his career shaped the
6-foot-7-inch and 217-pound Patterson.
“It really helped me because it kept me focused,”
Patterson said. “Kept me in check and made me make sure that
I focused in on my business. Having to go through all that helped
me mature.”
Patterson has flourished in his past two seasons as a Volunteer.
In his junior year, he started 22 of the 31 games he played in and
was ranked 10th in the SEC in rebounding at 6.2 rebounds per game.
His team didn’t make the NCAA Tournament that year,
however.
After coaching changes were made by Tennessee, the Volunteers
find themselves in the Big Dance this season.
Seeing Patterson do well brings a smile to Bozeman’s face.
Bozeman still remembers growing up with Patterson.
“I’m happy for ‘Dre because he’s gone
through some tough times. He’s doing something real special
in Tennessee,” Bozeman said. “Me and ‘Dre are the
same age and we grew up together and we played small ball together,
so to see him go through all the adversity and get back to
prominence at Tennessee, that’s big,” Bozeman said.
“Like I said, things happen for a reason.”
Bozeman’s Bruins and Patterson’s Volunteers are on
opposite ends of the bracket and could only meet in the NCAA
Championship game in Indiana.
If Patterson doesn’t get his first wish this March,
he’s more than willing to opt for the second.
“All the way for Tennessee,” he said. “But if
I had to root for another team, for sure UCLA is my second
team.”