Homestead’s Ayanna Patterson has become a highly sought-after girls’ high school basketball star. Her most recent offer was from Arizona on Tuesday, June 2nd. Before that she received offers from schools such as Mississippi State, UCLA, Notre Dame, Syracuse and others.
“It’s a great feeling just because I dreamed of being a college athlete growing up, and so just to live out my dreams and everything, all the hard work is paying off,” Patterson said.
Some of the schools Patterson has received offers from have been very successful in recent years. Notre Dame won a national title in 2018. Mississippi State earned back-to-back national championship appearances in 2017 and 2018. UCLA has put together six seasons of 20 wins or more. Arizona has been coached by Adia Barnes for the last four years. In that span, they have built up to a 24-7 finish this past season.
Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, Patterson has not yet gotten to visit any of the schools that have given her offers. However, she has been able to learn about some of those schools by having Zoom visits with them.
“I enjoyed seeing the campuses [and] their culture. And they explained a little bit about what they do in their program,” Patterson said. “They talked about schooling and everything. So it was just a great experience, not being able to be there, but being able to see everything.”
Patterson is a sophomore and has been one of the Spartans top players the last two years. Last year, she averaged 13.2 points per game, 7.7 rebounds, 1.4 steals, and 1.7 blocks. This year, she 13.6 points, 8.4 rebounds, 1.1 steals, and 1.3 blocks. She’s been a part of back-to-back sectional championship teams.
“She’s a superior athlete is the first thing that steps to the front of my mind,” Spartans’ head coach Rod Parker said. “Secondly, she’s a great teammate. And I think the third thing that really separates Ayanna is her desire to improve as a basketball player.”
Not only did Patterson get to play varsity ball as a freshman, she got to start as a freshman. Her first varsity start was in the season opener against Carmel in 2018.
“It gave me a chance to show what I really was about,” Patterson said. “So to just come in there with me still learning, and they were able to be patient with me and still teach me stuff.”
In that game, Patterson had a big night. She put up 17 points, three steals, and four rebounds en route to a 64-43 road win against the Greyhounds.
“Playing Carmel the first high school game is a tall order,” Parker said. “And that was down at Carmel, so it was a tough environment to play. But she came out and really was a big influence in that game and a game-changer for us to come out and get a big win down at Carmel.”
Patterson has two more years of high school left. Despite the success she’s had so far, she does not see herself as a finished product.
“I still have areas to improve on,” Patterson said. “Each year we try to build on something, just getting better every summer, coming into the next season better than I was.”
