‘Generational talent’
‘Maybe the best player ever at Sonora’ commits to play D1 college hoops at Wofford
Sonora High School’s Austin Patterson has committed to play Division 1 college basketball for the Wofford Terriers in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Patterson has twice been named Most Outstanding Player in the Mother Lode League and was the 2020 Modesto Bee Boys Basketball Player of the Year.
Austin J. Patterson, the sharpshooting playmaker who led Sonora High School to three consecutive Mother Lode League championships and back-to-back CIF Sac-joaquin Section Division IV championships, has committed to play Division 1 college basketball for the Wofford Terriers in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and he was scheduled to fly to campus Thursday, Dec. 10.
Patterson is “a generational talent, arguably one of the best players we've ever had, maybe the best player we've ever had at Sonora,” Lloyd Longeway, the Sonora Wildcats varsity head coach, who has worked the most with Patterson in recent years, told The Union Democrat in January.
Patterson holds the Sonora single-game scoring record with 48 points versus Central Catholic at the Gallo Invitational Tournament hosted by Central Catholic in Modesto on Friday the 13th in December 2019. In that game, Patterson hit 8 out of 9 three-point attempts and scored 20 points in the 3rd period alone. That showing also earned him Norcal BB Player of the Week recognition from Calhisports.com.
“He is amazing at finishing at the rim, and he's a jump shooter with a high release, pretty much impossible to block,” Longeway said Wednesday. “Great teammate with all these talents. He cared about each and every one of his teammates, and he was very humble about his skills.”
Patterson, a two-time Most Outstanding Player in the Mother Lode League and the 2020 Modesto Bee's Boys Basketball Player of the Year, is headed to one of the nation's up-and-coming NCAA men's basketball programs. Wofford has qualified for the NCAA D1 March Madness championship tournament five times since 2010, a run that includes the Terriers' defeat of #10-seed Seton Hall to advance to the second round in 2019.
In addition, Wofford has pulled off two recent upsets of the legendary University of North Carolina Tar Heels, in
December 2017 when UNC was ranked No. 5 nationally, and in December 2019 when UNC was ranked No. 17. Wofford's first upset of North Carolina was the program's first-ever win over an Associated Press Top 25 team. Both upsets happened on the road, with the Terriers defeating the Tar Heels on their home court in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Some of Patterson's games at Wofford will be live on ESPN+ and streamed on various platforms, Longeway said.
Patterson, now 18 years old, is a right-hand-dominant, 6-foot-3, 175-pound shooting guard, and he averaged 23.5 points per game for Sonora in his last high school season, 20192020, which ended in early March this year. He shot 50 percent from the field and 81 percent from the free throw line.
He's recently been studying and playing ball at Brewster Academy, a college preparatory school with seven National Prep Championships since 2010, in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, to stay sharp and ready for his college career. Locally he's been working on his strength training, his basketball fundamentals and skills, Longeway said.
“He is always working on his game locally,” Longeway said, “or traveling to the Bay Area to get better.”
Patterson's red hair and fluid playing style have earned him several nicknames, including “the Ginger Ninja” and “Red Mamba” and “Cheeto.” Asked if he likes those handles he said, “You can just use the nickname `AP' haha.”
He's @ajpatt3 on Twitter and @austinpattersonn on Instagram.
The Modesto Bee called Patterson “an unstoppable force” when the newspaper named him the Bee's Boys Basketball Player of the Year in March this year.
“He's aggressive and he's a leader,” Longeway said in January. “He energizes the team. He's got a special personality. He's easy to get along with. Guys like him.
It's easy for him to lead. He's very humble.”
Patterson said Wednesday he is flying to South Carolina on Thursday, and his first official practice will be this Saturday. He said he'll be eligible to play when Wofford takes on Coastal Carolina University at 3 p.m. Pacific Time on Tuesday, Dec. 15. He said
he learned a lot growing and playing ball in Sonora and elsewhere in Central California.
“I learned that no matter what background you come from, or where you live, should determine how successful you are in life,” Patterson said Wednesday. “Playing for Sonora High School was very helpful for
me because Coach Lloyd knows the game super well. He coached me the right way and the whole team had a ton of community support behind us.”