Cast your minds back to two years ago last May. Billy Gillispie was but a month into his ill-fated tenure as Kentucky coach. UK had lost a coach in Tubby Smith and a big man in Randolph Morris. Gillispie was scrambling to put together a roster that could compete on the customary Big Blue level.

UK fans were prepared for a bit of a swoon. Fresh off of a disappointing two year span with two second round losses, it looked like the cupboard was going to be pretty bare. UK had some returning perimeter talent in veterans Ramel Bradley and Joe Crawford along with rising sophomores Jodie Meeks and Derrrick Jasper. However, it was abundantly clear that the team would go no where without an impact post presence.

UK fans turned to Patrick Patterson. Patterson was a highly regarded post prospect with all the credentials you look for in a instant contributor. He was set to decide between UK and two major rivals, Duke and two time defending national champion Florida.

When Patterson surprised many and elected to attend Kentucky, he did so well aware of the fact that he would be the center piece of somewhat of a rebuilding project. He bought into what Tubby Smith and then Billy Gillispie sold to him, and UK fans rejoiced. We had our savior. The fix wasn’t going to be instant, but we had our leader on the sideline and our center piece on the court.

What do you think Patrick Patterson would have said if you spelled out how his freshman and sophomore years would play out? End of season injury in year one keeping him out of UK’s opening round NCAA loss…gulp. Disastrous collapse in year two resulting in UK’s first NIT berth since Patterson was in pre-school…double gulp. I’m thinking Patterson may have called up Billy Donovan and asked if that offer still stood.

However, if you gave Patterson the option to go back and change his decision based on how things turned out, I think he would tell you to close that DeLorean wing door before you could say “Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.” I don’t think UK fans would trade where the program is now under John Calipari for anything either.

Almost exactly two years after Patrick Patterson committed to play for Billy Gillispie, he essentially committed a second time to UK in deciding to pass on the NBA Draft and return for his junior season. In doing so, Patterson made a great off-season downright unbelievable…and that was even before John Wall chose UK.

Not only did Patterson bring an unbridled sense of excitement to the 2009-2010 season, he also put himself in position to become one of the greats in Kentucky Basketball history.

Rather than being remembered as the greatest Wildcat to never play in an NCAA Tournament game, Patterson is slated to be the clear cut leader on a Kentucky team that looks to be a contender for the Final Four. If Patterson and his ‘Cats have the kind of season that so many are expecting, Patterson’s legacy will be almost unmatched among UK players.

Patterson already would have been remembered fondly for being one of the lone bright spots in an otherwise very dark 2 year period. His drive and determination, matched with his exceptional talent, never relented in his first two years, even though he bore the weight of being the only consistent post presence over that time, while also playing for a coach whose methods have been openly ridiculed since his ultimate departure. His consistency in the face of adversity and always doing what was asked of him are thing I will not soon forget.

Now, playing on a team with immeasurably more talent in a system that will allow him to diversify his skill set, the admiration that UK fans have for Patterson could well turn into unabashed worship, especially when you think about a couple of the reasons behind his return: love for the University and earning his degree in three years. Quite frankly, Patterson, by coming back, could well be known as the most significant Kentucky player since Jamal Mashburn.

Now, statistics go hand in hand with Big Blue Nation’s reverence for the history of its program, so let’s take a quick look at how Patterson’s numbers stack up. I will assume that Patterson plays 36 games this year at his current career pace. I have listed below his current rank (Patrick Patterson (2009)) and his rank with the projected stats (Patrick Patterson (2010)).

Points

# Player Seasons Games Points
1 Dan Issel – 2138
2 Kenny Walker – 2080
3 Jack Givens – 2038
4 Keith Bogans – 1923
5 Tony Delk – 1890
6 Jamal Mashburn – 1843
7 Kevin Grevey – 1801
8 Tayshaun Prince – 1775
9 Cotton Nash – 1770
10 Alex Groza – 1744
11 Patrick Patterson (2010) – 1642
11 Ed Davender – 1637
12 Louie Dampier – 1575
13 Mike Casey – 1535
14 Ralph Beard – 1517
15 Melvin Turpin – 1509
54 Patrick Patterson (2009) – 1020

Rebounds

1 Dan Issel – 1078
2 Frank Ramsey – 1038
3 Cliff Hagan – 1035
4 Johnny Cox – 1004
5 Cotton Nash – 962
6 Kenny Walker – 942
7 Chuck Hayes – 910
8 Sam Bowie – 843
9 Rick Robey – 838
10 Bob Burrow – 823
11 Patrick Patterson (2010) – 818
47 Patrick Patterson (2009) – 508

Blocks

1 Jamaal Magloire – 268
2 Melvin Turpin – 226
3 Sam Bowie – 218
4 Andre Riddick – 212
5 Patrick Patterson (2010) – 163
15 Patrick Patterson (2009) – 101

I understand that it’s difficult to project Patterson’s numbers for this season in a new offense with new teammates, but I think this give a pretty good baseline for how Patterson could stack up. In only three seasons, Patterson would rank in the top 11 of three of the major statistical categories in Kentucky Basketball history.

These raw numbers are certainly interesting, but they do not entirely capture the unbelieveable efficiency of Patrick Patterson. When Patterson gets touches, he scores. When he gets to the free throw line, he makes shots. When there’s a rebound to grab, he grabs it.

If you look at Patrick Patterson’s Tendex rating, which essentially measures overall statistical performance, Patrick Patterson is the best Kentucky player in the past 30 years since the rating has been able to be tracked. And it’s really not even close:

1 Patrick Patterson 31.84
2 Kenny Walker 26.786
3 Sam Bowie 25.528
4 Jamal Mashburn 24.613
5 Chris Mills 23.5
6 Rex Chapman 22.119
7 Melvin Turpin 21.321
8 Randolph Morris 20.271
9 Chuck Hayes 20.108
10 Tayshaun Prince 20.051
11 Rajon Rondo 18.709
12 Jodie Meeks 17.487
13 Derek Anderson 17.384
14 Ron Mercer 16.955
15 Scott Padgett 16.896

Standard Tendex Rating = {[Points + Rebounds + Assists + Steals + Blocks - Turnovers - Missed Field Goals - Missed Free Throws] / Minutes / Game Pace}

I certainly don’t need to look at statistics to tell you that as a Kentucky fan, I love Patrick Patterson, but it’s definitely cool to see how he looks when matched up against his historical counterparts in only three seasons.

Big shout out to the phenomenal site BigBlueHistory.net for all the stats behind this article.