Top 50 Kentucky Wildcats Prior to John Calipari Era

Apr 10, 2015; Orlando, FL, USA; Toronto Raptors forward Patrick Patterson (54) celebrates on the court during the fourth quarter against the Orlando Magic at Amway Center. Toronto Raptors defeated the Orlando Magic 101-99. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

38. Patrick Patterson

Patrick Patterson will forever be one of my favorite Wildcats and I can imagine probably one of yours, too. He was the epitome of everything you want in a basketball player at your school, a good student and a good player. Graduating in a mere three years, Patterson gave everything he had to being the best he could be on and off the court.

Patterson made a great decision when he chose to play collegiate basketball at the University of Kentucky over Duke and Florida. Patterson was heavily recruited by all of those schools and both Tubby Smith and Billy Gillispie from the University of Kentucky.

During his sophomore season, he and Jodie Meeks were one of the most successful duos in college basketball. It was a completely different team when they were together, and statistic wise, they were the most successful duos since Dan Issel and Mike Pratt, too, at the University of Kentucky.

After choosing to forgo the NBA Draft after his sophomore season, like Jodie Meeks did, Patterson had the opportunity to finish his degree and also play under the newly hired head coach, John Calipari. With the coaching change, Patterson was able to come off the bench and not be the main man since he was joined by John Wall, Demarcus Cousins and Eric Bledsoe, among others.

After his season with Calipari, Patterson looked more NBA ready than ever. He was drafted 14th overall in the 2010 NBA Draft by the Houston Rockets. It was shortly after that Patterson was dropped to the D-League, but was quickly recalled back up to the Rockets, making his debut in late 2010 and making his first start in March 2011.

In 2013, Patterson was traded to the Sacramento Kings, and not even a year later was traded to the Toronto Raptors where he’s really made a name for himself. He, like Hayes, seems to make a better impact coming off the bench.

Patterson signed a four-year deal with the Raptors in 2014 worth $18 million.

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