College Commitment: 2020 Tyler Patterson (Mt. Si HS)
One of the state’s top prospects, Tyler Patterson announced a couple weeks ago that he will be attending Montana State following his senior season at Mount Si High School. Tyler is a great 3 and D player at 6’7 and has been one of the top 2020 players in Washington for multiple years. I recently had the chance to catch up with the 6’7 shooting guard to talk about his recruitment process and how everything transpired.
1) How was the recruiting process for you overall?
“Overall it was a great experience. The process was exciting and served as a great motivator to get better in order to achieve my lifelong goal. It was a long process over the last 4 years and there were some highs and lows but overall I am very happy with my decision. No matter how much attention you get you can never be satisfied or let up and I would also say don’t always trust what you hear.”
2) What schools did you visit before deciding on Montana State?
“Over the years I have visited several schools. My decision this fall came down to essentially three schools (Montana State, Seattle University and Cal Poly). Pepperdine wanted me the following year (2021) but that would have involved a prep school year and that wasn’t for me. Since Seattle University is local I got to visit them a few times. After my recent trip to Montana State it became obvious to me that Montana State was where I wanted to be.”
3) Take me through the commitment process. What all went into the decision that made you feel like Montana State was the best fit?
“There were a bunch of factors that went into making the decision. We had prepared really well in terms of researching the program, the new head coach, staff and the school. We also had a bunch of questions that we were able to go over on my visit. My top 4 basketball areas of focus were 1) relationship with the coaching staff 2) early playing time 3) does their style of play fit me (on both ends) 4) do they value what I do. MSU checked all the boxes for me. I really feel the coaches get who I am.”
Tyler mentioned that he felt Montana State made it clear that he was a top priority for them. They value his ability to defend and expect him to come in and play really early on, as long as he does what he’s supposed to do. Tyler’s connection with the entire coaching staff made a big influence on his decision. New Head Coach Danny Sprinkle was a standout player at Montana State and returns to his alma matter to get the program to its winning ways from when he played there. “Coach Griffith [Mt. Si HC] has heard nothing but great things about him and I’m excited to be Coach Sprinkle’s first early commit. We feel Montana State has everything in place to win a Big Sky Championship. Bozeman is an awesome town and we feel Montana State is a sleeping giant in the Big Sky Conference.”
For this upcoming season Tyler’s goal is to win the KingCo Defensive Player of the Year again and help lead his team to a state championship, after placing second last season. As far as what he’ll be working on before leaving off for college, Tyler says he’ll be working on getting stronger and gaining weight and added “I also need to continue to work on my rebounding, driving to the basket, finishing and making plays for others.”