» Audio: Trivia | 1-on-1

Number: 54

Class: Junior

Height: 6-9

Weight: 235

Hometown: Huntington, W.Va.

High school: Huntington

What do you recall about working out this summer in San Francisco? Walking up the hills. Working out on the beach. It turned out to be a nude beach and nothing but gay men and older men. ... We were working out. They were walking by.

Distracting? Yeah. And disturbing, too. It's a nice place, but I couldn't live there.

How did you come to be working out in San Francisco? Daniel (Orton) knows the trainer. He did Daniel's rehab. ... He did wonders for Blake Griffin.

How long were you out there? I went out there to try it for a couple days to see if I liked it. It was tough the first couple days. I stuck it out. I stayed six or seven weeks.

The workouts included conditioning and basketball skills. How will this impact your play? The workouts helped my ankles. I don't wear those Forrest Gump braces. I threw those away, finally. Now I wear regular braces and tape.

How did the 'Forrest Gump braces' affect your play? They weighed me (down) a little bit in my movement. And they were embarrassing.

How much does trying to finally play in an NCAA Tournament serve as motivation? All my teammates and coaches motivate me every day. I always think of the NCAA Tournament, thinking this could be my first opportunity to play.

When you signed with Kentucky, how soon did you expect to be playing in the NCAA Tournament? That we'd get there my freshman year. Seeing Ramel (Bradley) and Joe (Crawford) my freshman year, oh, yeah, we'd definitely be going to the NCAA. I thought we'd win some games and do some good things for Kentucky. (UK did make it, but an ankle injury prevented Patterson from playing.) Last year, I thought that as well. ... I thought it would be another year we'd have a great team. I don't know, possibly better than my freshman year. Be a lot better and do better things. We just didn't play well enough, I guess.

CAREER HIGHS

Points: 33 (Tennessee State, Dec. 22, 2008)

Rebounds: 18 (Auburn, Jan, 21, 2009)

Assists: 6 (Longwood, Nov. 24, 2008)

Field goals: 15 (Tennessee State, Dec. 22, 2008)

Field-goal attempts: 24 (South Carolina, Feb. 25, 2009)

Free throws: 9 (twice)

Free-throw attempts: 13 (twice)

Three-point field goals: 0

Three-point field-goal attempts: 0

Steals: 5 (Texas Southern, Nov. 24, 2007)

Blocked shots: 8 (Georgia, March 4, 2009)

Minutes: 50 (Vanderbult, Jan. 12, 2008)