By Joseph Staszewski
Danielle Patterson is getting what she had expected even before she ever suited up as a high-school basketball player.
She was already 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 about to pick 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 CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens. It is where she planned to play, before Bishop Ford closed down and she followed former Falcons coach Mike Toro to Brooklyn instead of to Mary Louis.
“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 supposed 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 she’s at home, she is working with former St. John’s assistant coach-turned-trainer Priscilla Edwards, running through numerous ball handling and shooting drills in a steamy St. Clare’s gym in Rosedale.
“She wants to be great, so her work ethic is tremendous,” Sparks coach Keith Gilchrist said.
Patterson has to prepare doubly hard 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 she 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 6 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 will be raised as she heads to Mary Louis to help the school make a challenge for its first diocesan title. Hilltoppers coach JoAnn Arbitello-Pinnock said her players are excited to have Patterson and TMLA 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 a new experience and added pressure that Patterson is comfortable in and 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 before her high school career began, and 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.’”
