Basketball senior reaches 1000 point milestone

Brenden Patrick reaches career milestone, ties Pamplin record for points scored, shares story

Brenden Patrick ’23 has accomplished a career-defining goal by surpassing 1,000 career points with the Lewis & Clark Pioneers, in only three seasons. This milestone puts him in one of the top 25 D3 scorers in the nation.

“That was one of my goals over the years was to score a thousand, I didn’t know I was gonna have four years to do it,” Patrick said.” It means a lot to me and for my coaches, trusting me for that long.”

Patrick came to the program in 2019 and played one season, scoring 224 points in his first year — on pace to come two layups short of 1,000. His sophomore season was canceled due to the pandemic, but after the break he scored 396 in his remarkable junior season before reaching the milestone this year. This season, the combo-guard topped it off with his highest scoring season yet at 496 points.

Additionally, Patrick scored a career-high, with a 43-point game on Feb. 10, tying the Pamplin gym record for most points scored. According to him, he was still practicing team-first basketball. 

“Whether that’s score the basketball or distribute the basketball, just do whatever my coach wants me to do, whatever my team needs at that point in time,” Patrick said.

A big part of his success and the steady incline in points per season seems to be his work ethic. Head Men’s Basketball Coach Tim McCrory said he was impressed with Patrick’s consistency and leadership.

“In terms of my recollection, I don’t think Brenden has missed one practice, one lift, one team meeting,” McCrory said. 

His attendance is only one small part of what Patrick means to LC men’s basketball.

“So for us, when you think of culture and what the basketball team really is, it’s Brenden,” McCrory said. “It’s him on the court, off the court, Brenden has two jobs off the court and then he has the highest GPA on the team.” 

During the summer he wakes up at 5:30 a.m. in order to drive to the gym — about 45 minutes from his house — and gets on the court at about 6:30 a.m. After his workout he goes home, eats lunch, hangs out with his family and takes some time off. Patrick returns to the gym at 6 p.m. to do his second basketball workout. During the summer, Patrick also lifts weights every other day, so on those days he is doing three workouts a day. 

In season, he wakes up for classes, attends practices in the afternoon and lifts with the team and squeezes in time to perfect various facets of his game. 

Patrick accumulated his drive during his primary school days. He was born in Oakland Calif., but moved to Danville (a suburb) when he was six. As a result, when he returned to his hometown — a veritable basketball mecha that bred legends from the region, such as Gary Payton and Damian Lillard — he was treated as an outsider.

“When all the good basketball is where I used to live in Oakland they didn’t give me any respect at all,” Patrick said. “I always had to gain my respect, I’ve always had to fight for respect from the guys.”

As he has honed his basketball skills, he has also honed his mindset. 

“I had number zero, and there’s really no meaning to it,” Patrick said. “It’s just how the way the sizes of our jerseys work. That’s kind of your zero but now I really worth zero just because I said zero doubt. So like there’s zero indecision when I’m playing because I’m already prepared.”

Because of the pandemic, Patrick has an extra year of eligibility to play on the team after receiving his bachelors, which he plans to use in grad school. That will not necessarily be an easy transition, though.

“I’m definitely gonna miss this place, miss the coaches for sure,” Patrick said. “I wish there was a grad school program that fit me here, but I definitely do have to move on. I am excited to take the next step in my journey though.”

Patrick also wanted to extend a thank you to his community here.

“Give a big shout out to all the coaches and every player on my team,” Patrick said. “Everyone has their specific role and they’re trying to fill it as best they can. Just keep a look out for the basketball team.“