Indiana Target Trey Patterson Commits to Villanova

Trey Patterson, a top-five small forward from New Jersey, had visited Indiana and had them on his list of final three teams.

New Jersey native Trey Patterson, a 6-foot-7 forward and four-star recruit who had Indiana on his list of final three schools, announced Thursday night that he was committing to Villanova.

Patterson is ranked No. 26 by ESPN, No. 28 by Rivals and No. 34 by 247Sports and had narrowed his list to the Hoosiers, Villanova and Florida, though Villanova had been the favorite all along.

more life, more blessings 🙏🏾 pic.twitter.com/Mcx7QI0Zwk

— Trey Patterson (@_treypatt3) June 18, 2020

Indiana made a hard press for him, but Patterson stayed true to his lean. 

“I feel like I can fit into their system very well,” Patterson said in his announcement. “Their style of play, I feel like, is good for me. Over the past couple of years, I’ve built a great relationship with Coach (Jay) Wright and his coaching staff and I feel like I can believe in them and their plan for me.”

Patterson averaged 19.8 points and 10.1 rebounds as a junior. Patterson, whose birthday was also Thursday, took official visits to Indiana, Florida and Auburn. He didn't take an official visit to Villanova, but did visit the Wildcats' campus last fall.

"I really enjoyed the campus tour; the campus is very nice," he said. "My parents and I got to watch them practice and it was impressive to see how hard they practiced. Every drill all the guys went game speed. I also got to meet the entire coaching staff and eat dinner with the team after their practice, which was cool."

Indiana's lone commitment thus far in the 2021 class is Logan Duncomb, a 6-foot-9 forward from Cincinnati. Khristian Lander, a five-star point guard from Evansville, was originally in that class, but moved up a year and will play with Indiana this season.