Justin Patton

Patton was born June 14, 1997 in Riverdale, Georgia. He's the son of Tora Patton and has three siblings -- Terrel, Kendall and Raven. He's the cousin of former Creighton Basketball big man Donnie Johnson. During collegiate at Creighton, Patton majored in social work with a minor in communication. Patton attended Omaha North high school, where he became a top-50 recruit by the end of his senior year and was named First Team All-State by the Omaha World-Herald. He led the team to a school-record 23 wins in 27 games, a district title and a state tournament appearance. In college, his dream job was to become a Division I basketball coach or NBA player. Patton redshirted the 2015-16 campaign, making his debut as a redshirt freshman during the 2016-17 season. In his first game, Nov. 11 against UMKC, Patton posted 12 points (4-7 FG, 0-1 3Pt, 4-7 FT), eight rebounds, two assists and one block in 22 minutes. He went on to averaged 12.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.4 blocks and 1.2 blocks in 25.3 minutes while shooting 67.6 percent from the field. Arguably his best performance was Nov. 29 against Buffalo, where Patton accumulated 21 points (9-10 FG, 1-1 3Pt, 2-4 FT), 10 rebounds, two blocks and one steal. After the season, Patton was named to the All-Big East Second Team and was awarded the Big East Rookie of the Year. He proceeded to declare for the NBA draft.