Eleven of the Minnesota men’s basketball team roster are newcomers. The MSR chatted with three of them during the team’s media day at Williams Arena last month.
Through the fire
Lu’Cye Patterson comes home after playing at two other schools, most recently at Charlotte where he led the 49ers in scoring and made the all-conference second team and all-district. The 6’2” senior guard is the only Minneapolis native on this year’s team.
“I went through the fire a lot,” Patterson said of his athletic travels after he graduated from Minnesota Prep Academy in 2020. “I spent two years at Missouri State. I played as a true freshman. My sophomore year we went to the NIT.
“I felt like those two years at Missouri State and two years at Charlotte helped me get to the level that I am right now, and what I can show to these Minnesota fans now that I’m here,” he stressed.
Unlike his previous stops, Patterson isn’t being counted upon to carry his team. He started all 31 games for Charlotte last season and scored double figures 24 times, averaging nearly 15 points a game.
“I feel a lot more comfortable. You can’t game plan just for me,” he pointed out.
A bit aggressive
Femi Odukale (Brooklyn, NY) played in over 100 college games and 80 starts at his previous schools (New Mexico State, Seton Hall, Pitt). Like Patterson, he returns home to play in Minnesota.
“A lot of people don’t know that I grew up in St. Cloud for about four or five years,” noted the 6’6” guard. “I always liked Minnesota as a home place because I grew up here during my elementary years. I just always wanted a good chance to come back.”
Along with his New York toughness Odukale brings playing experience, as he earned all-league status at each school where he played. He also earned his bachelor’s degree in individualized study at New Mexico State and is working on a master’s in sports management at Minnesota.
“Sometimes people say about my demeanor if I don’t speak, I’m just aggressive,” he said smiling. “Sometimes when I speak, they find me a little aggressive. I think it’s just the way I talk now because New York is a little bit aggressive.”
Patterson and Odukale are two of three Gophers who have seen action in over 100 Division I games, while Odukale is one of two players on this year’s squad who have played at Power 5 conferences.
Hitting the boards hard
Growing up in his native Canada, Frank Mitchell naturally played his country’s national sport, hockey. “I just stopped playing hockey and focused on high school,” he said.
The 6’8” forward from Toronto started playing basketball full time “a year after graduating from high school. It happened during Covid,” said Mitchell, who became a quick learner.
After sitting out a year due to NCAA rules in 2022-23, Mitchell became a second-team all-conference, the only player in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference to average a double-double last season (12.1 ppg, 11.6 rpg). Mitchell’s offensive rebounds (4.1) ranked sixth in the nation, and his defensive boards (7.55) finished 14th in the nation. His 15 double-doubles tied for 21st nationally.
Hitting the boards hard is what the Gophers are primarily looking to get from Mitchell this season. “I think it’s the physicality, and I think it’s really the eye coordination… I feel like rebounding is one of my best attributes.”
Charles Hallman welcomes reader comments to challman@spokesman-recorder.com.
Lu’cye Patterson is the great-grandson of Shorty Patterson 1950s North High School basketball player who went on to be drafted by the Minneapolis Lakers in 1958.