Trey Patterson’s commitment to Villanova is meaningful to Indiana Basketball.
Yesterday, four-star wing and top-40 recruit Trey Patterson committed to Villanova over Indiana and Florida. Patterson, a class of 2021 forward from Somerset, New Jersey, ranks 34th in the 247 Sports Composite. While it wasn’t much of a surprise he picked Villanova, decisions can sometimes catch analysts off guard. In the end, however, most people’s expectations were fulfilled by his commitment to the Wildcats.
Even though Patterson picked Villanova, there is still a victory to be found for Indiana.
Archie Miller is not subtle with his recruiting. He identifies his main targets and tells them and the entire world how badly he wants them. In the case of Dawson Garcia from last summer (who ended up committing to Marquette), Miller and assistant coach Tom Ostrom were catching flights to see their prized recruit multiple times per week. Miller also clearly communicated that Khristian Lander was his number one priority for the class of 2021.
This was not the case with Patterson. While still a priority, it eventually became clear that Patterson was behind fellow 2021 recruits Aminu Muhammed and Trey Kaufman on Miller’s list of priorities. This is one reason why it was almost a lock Patterson wouldn’t wind up in Bloomington.
Here’s where the win comes in for Indiana. Even despite that message being clearly communicated from Miller to Patterson, Indiana still wound up in the young player’s top three schools. It speaks volumes that Indiana’s coaching staff can pull their foot off the gas pedal for certain recruits, and still somewhat woo them. It communicates that Indiana, even without a hard recruiting push, is a special place worth being on a recruit’s list. That’s the way it should be.
I doubt the Indiana Basketball coaching staff is kicking themselves for this. If they’re anything like me, they’re pleasantly surprised to be included in Patterson’s top three. Indiana fans shouldn’t view this as a discouragement — they should view it as a sign of greater things to come. Stay tuned, Hoosier fans.