Patten moving on to Duquesne
BUTLER TWP — IMG Academy served its purpose for former Butler basketball standout Luke Patten.
After playing for IMG's developmental team in Bradenton, Fla., this past season, Patten has accepted a preferred walk-on opportunity with Duquesne University. That guarantees him a spot on the Dukes' roster in 2021-22.
“This fulfills a dream for him,” IMG developmental basketball coach Jim Carr said. “Luke received numerous offers from Division III schools, but he's always wanted to play Division I basketball. Plus, he'll be close to home in Pittsburgh.”
The 6-foot-4 Patten played shooting guard and small forward in 35 games for IMG this season. He averaged approximately 12 points per game, including a season-high 25 points with seven treys in that game.Patten decided to attend IMG Academy for a year after missing his senior high school basketball season following surgery for torn knee ligaments. He averaged 11.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game in helping the Golden Tornado reach the WPIAL championship game his junior year.“I felt like I needed to strengthen my knee and get my (basketball) legs under me again,” Patten said. “The same schools that recruited me in high school — Geneva, Allegheny, La Roche — were interested in me again for next year.“When the Duquesne opportunity arose, I was pretty much locked into that.”While Patten didn't make IMG's national team, he did practice against that caliber of player every day.“I was guarding and going up against a Syracuse recruit, an LSU recruit ... That experience did a lot for my confidence,” he said. “I didn't feel out of place playing against those guys.“I believe I can hold my own at Duquesne.”He's not alone in that belief.Carr coached at Rhode Island in the Atlantic 10. His assistant coach at IMG, John Rhoades, is a former Duquesne assistant coach,“I'm familiar with that league and, yeah, Luke can fit in there,” Carr said. “He is a very coachable, versatile player who is unselfish on the court.“He's a great teammate because all he wants to do is win. Other guys love playing ball with him.”Patten said the Dukes have interest in him as “a 3 or 4” player, just like he was used at IMG.He plans to major in business at Duquesne.“Obviously, my goal is to earn minutes and get on the floor as much as I can,” Patten said.”But I don't really have any set individual goals in mind.“If I'm a practice player and am helping that way, that's fine. All I want to do is help the team win.”Butler boys basketball coach Matt Clement referred to Duquesne as “a good landing spot” for Patten.“He's determined to do what it takes to get on the floor there and I'm not putting that past him,” Clement said.Keith Dambrot has been Duquesne's coach for four seasons. He guided the Dukes to a 9-9 record this year in an abbreviated season.Before that, he won 56 games in his first three years with the Dukes, putting together seasons of 16, 19 and 21 wins. He won 305 games at Akron before coming to Duquesne, winning three conference titles with the Zips.“I haven't met him yet,” Patten said of Dambrot. “I'll go down there this summer, get together with him and go from there.“My knee feels great now. I feel like I've got my game back. Going to IMG was definitely the right move for me.”“That's what we're here for,” Carr said. “Kids who need to buy themselves an extra year for whatever reason, especially coming off an injury.“Luke is a great kid. He's hungry. I know he's going to have a solid college career.”
