Chasity Patterson (Vicky Graff Photo)
Chasity Patterson is overshadowed at Kentucky by Rhyne Howard. No shame there because almost every other player in the country is the same way as many college basketball analysts consider Howard the nation’s best player. But Patterson has been terrific in her two seasons at Kentucky going into today’s Senior Day game against Mississippi at noon on the SEC Network. Kameron Roach will also be honored in her final home game.
She was a McDonald’s All-American in high school in Houston and scored 3,177 points. ESPN ranked her as the nation’s best point guard and fourth-best player overall in the 2017 recruiting class.
She signed with Texas and played her freshman season and one game in the 2018-19 season before deciding to transfer to Kentucky.
Patterson is only 5-5 but is a defensive demon. She leads the Southeastern Conference and ranks top five nationally with 70 steals in only 22 games. That’s one reason she is a semifinalist for the 2021 Naismith Women’s Defensive Player of the Year award. in 41 career games at UK, she has 92 steals — or about 2.3 per game.
She has started every game this year after coming off the bench as a junior. She is averaging 13 points, 2.8 assists, and 2.5 rebounds per game this year while shooting 48.5 percent from the field, 36.5 percent from 3-point range, and 81 percent at the foul line. She is making just over one turnover per game.
Patterson, a media arts and studies major, has been called the best defensive player in the SEC by several conference coaches.
“I have probably been the toughest on her, more than anybody on the team, and she just takes it and continues to learn and grow,” first-year coach Kyra Elzy said earlier this season about Patterson.
“And then on the court, I mean, speed kills, right? Her ability to get a steal, lay it up, sometimes it just happens so quick. I’ll turn my head to talk to one of the coaches, and I’ll turn back around and Chasity Patterson is laying the ball up. But her ability to push into transition offense, and then she is a playmaker. She knows how to score.”
