Lexington, KY – With his mother, Tywanna, and father, Buster, by his side, Patrick Patterson walked into the Kentucky media room, looked at the media mob room and turned away awestruck.

Patrick Patterson has been the center of attention since the moment he set foot on campus, but even he and his family were a little awestruck at the interest people had in his decision to come back to UK for his junior season.

“Today feels like the first day of recruiting when he was at Huntington High and he was deciding he was coming to UK,” Tywanna Patterson said. “When I came in, I was surprised to see all you guys here.”

Even if they haven’t quite grasped the magnitude of Patrick’s decision, the rest of the Commonwealth already has. With the announcement of his decision to return to Lexington, UK has instantly become one of the favorites to compete for a national championship next season, one of three factors Patterson gave for coming back.

“I knew in my heart that I wanted to come back for next year,” Patrick Patterson said.

That’s why despite the likelihood of becoming a top-20 pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, Patrick Patterson ignored phone calls to his house and decided not to work out for any NBA teams. Along with winning a national championship, Patterson wanted the chance to play under new head coach John Calipari and have the opportunity to get his degree in three years.

“It came down to having the opportunity to get my degree next year,” Patrick Patterson said. “Not many people have that chance, that opportunity to get your degree in three years.”

Courtesy of Cat Scratches

Also of note today was that John Calipari was in attendance, but was not made available for questions. The reason behind this, as reported by Larry Vaught, was so that the day would be all about Patrick Patterson, the man who will now certainly be remembered among the greats ever to wear Kentucky blue.

Calipari will, however, be available on Wednesday to the media. It’s expected that the roster situation will be much clearer by that point and he will be able to speak with much more candor. I really appreciate the reasons why this decision was made. If Calipari had been available, he would have been bombarded with questions about who would be on the team next year and who wouldn’t, and frankly, those questions were not appropriate on a day that was to be a celebration of Patrick Patterson.

All I know is that I love me some Patrick Patterson and I can’t wait to watch him play next year on a team that looks to be as good as he deserves.