Villanova Basketball 2021-22 player preview: Trey Patterson

Trey Patterson

Height: 6-9
Weight: 220
Hometown: Somerset, N.J.
High School: Rutgers Prep

Trey Patterson player preview:

There are seniors opting to take their bonus year of eligibility to stay for a fifth season and on the other end of the spectrum, there were players like Trey Patterson looking to get a head start on their college careers.

High school seniors had an opportunity to enroll early for the second semester of college, and Patterson decided to jump on the opportunity, especially as the state of high school hoops was a mystery at the time, or guaranteed to be a shortened season in one way or another.

Patterson is the crown jewel of Villanova’s loaded 2021 recruiting class, a consensus four-star and top 45-ranked prospect.

With his early enrollment, Patterson unsurprisingly didn’t play much. The Wildcats had a crowded depth chart, plus if head coach Jay Wright loves veteran college players, it was highly unlikely that a high school senior was going to get substantial amount of playing time.

Patterson did appear in two games last season and logged a total of three minutes. He dished out one assist in a revenge win over St. John’s, then he made a brief appearance in the Wildcats’ NCAA Tournament Round of 32 win.

While he didn’t get many opportunities to showcase himself last season, it’s probably safe to say that this year will be different. Patterson is well ahead of his classmates that were recruited by his side, and with a full offseason to train and grow accustomed to Villanova’s routines and schemes, he will be in a much better position to make his mark.

Villanova is in need of frontcourt minutes. He’s bulked up nearly 30 pounds from his high school senior year weight and is now listed at 220. Expect Patterson to take a bigger role in the rotation.

This season, Patterson has switched his uniform number from 12 to 13. He’s the first Wildcat to don lucky No. 13 since Mouphtaou Yarou wore it, before graduating in 2013.

Best Case Scenario: Patterson thrives as one of the first few men off the bench and carves out a solid, reliable role for himself. The world finally gets to see what all the hype was about during his recruitment and high school days.

Worst Case Scenario: He’s still learning the concepts and needs more time to get comfortable. Patterson only plays when needed, like when a player is in foul trouble or towards the end of the rotation. Villanova looks elsewhere to distribute frontcourt minutes.