Huskies Offer Scholarship to Two-Way Iowa Athlete
Jamison Patton plays just about every sport there is in Middle America. Football, basketball and baseball, you name it. He might even run track this spring, too.
As a footballer alone, this versatile 6-foot-2, 195-pound athlete is known throughout his hometown of Des Moines, Iowa, as a swift dual-threat quarterback for Roosevelt High School.
Yet two time zones away, the new University of Washington football staff envisions Patton as a safety and on Sunday night made him a scholarship offer, his fifth overall to go with those from Iowa, Iowa State, Missouri and Nebraska.
Whether or not he ends up in Seattle, Patton is added proof that Kalen DeBoer's recruiters are casting a much wider net for talent than previous UW coaching staffs.
They've gone coast to coast seeking players, throughout the upper Midwest, through the South, repeatedly into Texas and now into the heartland.
A two-way Roosevelt High starter, Patton sounds like he prefers quarterback, but is willing to play defense if that's what gets him on a college football field.
“They offered me as a safety,” Patton told Cyclone Fanatic of his Iowa State recruitment. “I like to have the ball in my hands and have control of the game, but I also love playing safety. Whatever [route] gets me the furthest and gives me the most opportunities is the one I’m willing to take.”
A Class of 2023 prospect, the junior threw for 1,278 yards and 14 touchdowns for the Roughriders this past season and rushed for 548 and 7 scores. He logged 23 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and an interception as a defensive back.
As a sophomore, he started on the Roosevelt basketball team and averaged 9.1 points and 3.9 rebounds per game, and followed that up as a baseball starter, slugging 5 home runs, collecting 41 RBIs and stealing 9 bases.
DeBoer might want to point out to Patton how the Huskies in the past have used players on both sides of the ball, guys such as Shaq Thompson, John Ross, Will Dissly and briefly Budda Baker, to reward them for their versatility and confirm where they play best.
Go to si.com/college/washington to read the latest Husky Maven stories as soon as they’re published.
Not all stories are posted on the fan sites.
Find Husky Maven on Facebook by searching: Husky Maven/Sports Illustrated
Follow Dan Raley of Husky Maven on Twitter: @DanRaley1 and @HuskyMaven