David Patrick brings defense, winning resume to experienced staff
New Razorback Associate Head Coach David Patrick has been a part of nine NCAA Tournament teams as a coach.
“I forgot how hard it is to get to postseason play,” Patrick said after spending two seasons at UC-Riverside. In his second season as the Highlanders head coach, Coach Patrick led the team to just their second winning season in program history.
“Winning’s important, and it’s hard to do,” said Patrick. “I’ve been blessed to be in those positions, but I think I’ve aligned myself with great coaches and tried to surround myself with great people and players.”
Patrick has worked with the likes of Jamie Dixon (TCU), Johnny Jones (LSU), Randy Bennett (Saint Mary’s), and Eric Musselman (LSU/Arkansas). He’s picked up new and different information from each stop to help formulate his own philosophy, and he has ample experience building and re-building programs.
His approach to building a program sounds different than other coaches around the country. Scoring is not essential in the early stages of program building.
PODCAST: Listen to the JCHoops Pod with guest David Patrick on Spotify or Apple Podcasts
Patrick said, “It’s hard to say you gotta put the ball in the basket. I think that’s putting too much emphasis and too much pressure on young men or women to score every time they get on the floor, because that’s what everyone wants to do. My emphasis was, ‘We’re gonna defend and rebound every night.’ And try to take care of the basketball. If we did those three things, I felt we’d be in every ball game.”
Patrick’s focus on defense and rebounding paid off. In his first year, the Highlanders ranked 336th in total rebounds and 148th in points allowed per game. In year two, the Highlanders ranked 160th and 14th, respectively. The team allowed just 62.2 points per game, and also ranked 11th in 2-point field goal percentage and 8th in defensive rebound percentage. The focus was even a change for Coach Patrick.
“I’ve been an offensive guy my whole life, but I just felt for me to make that step and try to win from the jump, the defending and the rebounding was something at Riverside that we had to improve on,” he said.
“59 points [allowed] was our goal, but I knew that was damn-near impossible, but if we got 60 that was a good tell-tale sign.”
The Highlanders’ roster last season had great size with two 7-footers and a handful of large guards that aided in the rebounding effort. Coach Patrick joins a Razorback program with its tallest player in program history and a tall, versatile frontcourt.
“That’s the hope [coaching 7-foot-3 Connor Vanover to be an elite post defender]," Patrick said. "The advantage is that my 7-foot-3 guy [at Riverside] couldn’t shoot threes the way that Connor can. I think we can [do it]. We defend a little bit different here at the moment, but we’re an early work in progress here. I think Connor gives us a unique skillset in his size with his ability to protect the rim just with his sheer height, and then his ability on the offensive end to stretch the floor and shoot the three.”
In addition to Vanover’s height, Patrick has been impressed with the size and athleticism on the team as a whole, suggesting fans could be in for a treat with a high-flying brand of basketball.
“There’s a whole lot of dunks in practice,” Patrick said. “I’ve been at some high-level programs, but there is some high-flying going around when you talk about Moses Moody – if you don’t block out you’re gonna get dunked on – if him or Justin Smith are anywhere near the basket.
“I haven’t seen a group dive for loose balls and take charges and then go down on the other end and convert from the three-point line the way this group does so early,” Patrick continued. “You’re gonna have a group of guys who can play multiple positions, which isn’t normal in college basketball, and a group that competes for each other.”
The team has seemingly already bought into each other and the coaching staff in year two as the staff continues to build the program’s culture.
“We go hard. If you’re gonna come be a Razorback, you’re gonna compete and practice to play hard every day. This whole group does that.”
For more from Arkansas associate head coach David Patrick listen to the JCHoops Pod on Spotify or Apple Podcasts