MARIETTA, GA – Avery Patterson is greedy and hungry, which isn’t a bad thing in itself.

He steps on the court with one thing on his mind, beating his opponent. Patterson’s approach to the game is to go hard at all times. He does not to get beat in anything, nor does he want to be outworked by anyone.

“That is how I was raised up,” Patterson said. “As you get older you have to get hungrier. There is always someone out there who is getting better. Playing hard and that greedy mentality you can’t teach. There are a lot of kids out here who have a lot of skill but don’t have a lot of heart.

“That’s going to put me over the hump.”

Patterson’s mentality and demeanor has attracted some attention as he says Boston University, Gardner-Webb, Kansas State and Stanford have offered. What they see is a player with some solid grades and a toughness hard to find among players today, which is no surprise considering his background.

Like many male athletes born in the Peach State, Patterson played football and was pretty good. He battled through some injuries and played through his freshman season before putting the pigskin down to focus solely on basketball.

When you watch him play you can see Patterson has not left the punishing mentality of the gridiron far. No, he is not a hacker or an uncontrollable player. Patterson is one that will do whatever is necessary to help his team win and it will be done with a purpose.

“Every time I step on the floor I want to beat my defender,” he said. “I don’t want them to score. It’s different every game.”

His understanding of what it takes to be an exceptional athlete is not hard to figure out. Patterson is the son of Carmen Patterson played at Georgia Tech, then Carmen Davis. She is third on the Yellow Jackets career lists for assists in a season (173).

Patterson is getting that push and drive from Wheeler High coach Doug Lipscomb. Playing for the championship coach makes Patterson appreciative of what the Wildcats have accomplished and he wants to continue building on that tradition.

“This program has been through a lot and I feel like you have to defend what has come through here,” Patterson said. “Everyone around the country knows about Doug Lipscomb. He does lot for me as a player and the team. The least I can do or the team can do is go and play hard.

“Coaches like that I can only be thankful to play for.”

Patterson’s effort is thanks enough.