Dakota Patterson had surgery June 28 for a torn ACL. (Twitter Photo)
Justin Haddix isn’t sure what wide receiver Dakota Patterson’s recruiting will be like due to the ACL injury he suffered attending the University of Kentucky last month and surgery he had on June 28th to repair the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and meniscus.
The 6-3, 195-pound Patterson got his first scholarship offer from Kentucky in October of 2019 and also has offers from Memphis, Mississippi State, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Eastern Kentucky.
“He is currently ahead of schedule with his rehab,” said Haddix, the head coach at Boyle County High School and former coach at Corbin.
Patterson played for Haddix one year at Corbin before Haddix left for Boyle. Recently Patterson had transferred to Boyle for his senior season and the wide-open offense Haddix, a former college quarterback, uses figured to bring more attention to Patterson.
The receiver had 32 catches for 508 yards and three scores in 11 games last year when Corbin reached the Class 4A state semifinals.
“June was going to be a really big month for him going to different camps. He ran a 4.7 (second 40-yard dash) on a laser at UK the day he tore his ACL. He had not dropped a ball,” Haddix said. “Hopefully the people (college coaches) on him will still be on him.”
“Something like this has never happened to a kid I have coached with offers like he has. Hopefully a school will still take a chance on him or someone else will come in late and take a chance. We are definitely going to do whatever we can to help him.”
Haddix won’t rule out Patterson finding a way to play this year.
“We’ll just have to see how it goes,” the Boyle coach said. “He’s working hard and doing all he can. It was just such a fluke thing. He was doing a normal drill at UK. I think it was the second route he ran that day. It was really a no-contact deal. It was just crazy. It didn’t look that bad at all at the time.”
Taking a COVID year will not be an option because Patterson will be 19 and over the Kentucky High School Athletic Association age eligibility to play in 2023.
“It’s just a tough break for him. Mississippi State had just offered a few weeks earlier and I knew he was going to have more coaches looking at him,” Haddix said.
Even though he had not played for Boyle, Haddix knows what not having Patterson available will mean for the Rebels, the defending Class 4A state champion.
“You are losing one of your better athletes. You are losing a 6-3, 195-pounder who has a 65-inch reach and is a big-time receiver,” Haddix said. “We would love to have him.”
“Our guys just have to push on. We have still got to produce and get the done done but we are all sorry it has worked out this way for Dakota. He came here the last couple of weeks of school and has been working out with us. He is very likable and coachable. We all just want the best for him.”
