www.dadeinfo.com

Dade's Patton To Play For Georgia Northwestern
by Don Foley
posted May 3, 2010

Georgia Northwestern’s latest addition to its basketball arsenal for 2010-11 is spending his nights training vigorously with one of his new teammates on his shooting. However, Dade County senior Ben Patton and Mustang forward Jesse Moore do live in the 21st Century. “We play Call of Duty on the X-Box like every night,” said Patton.

Playing a military video game online might not be the kind of shooting basketball coaches are hoping their players are perfecting in the off-season. Although it shows the kind of teamwork the roundballers from Trenton possess.

“We know the kind of person we are getting in Ben,” said Georgia Northwestern Men’s Head Basketball Coach David Stephenson. “Last year, Jesse (Moore) came from Coach (Glen) Hicks’ program at Dade (County High School). The coach just does an incredible job of turning out young men who can perform well in class and on the basketball court.”
Whatever the regimen, the stats don’t lie for the 6-foot-1, 175-pound guard from the Northwest Georgia mountains and his other teammates over the past two years for Coach Hicks.

In 2008, Dade County’s Wolverines took their patented, “Dirt Road Lizard Crazy” style of play deep into the GHSA State Playoffs with Moore as the center on that Cinderella team. They finished that season with a 27-4 record. Not to be outdone, this year’s version of the Wolverines featuring Patton and other young guns wrapped up the campaign with a 25-4 mark. Patton averaged a dozen points and eight rebounds a game in his senior season.

His decision to sign his application to Northwest Georgia’s largest college is reflective of the words of another famous Patton. “Accept the challenges so that you can feel the exhilaration of victory.” Much like the General, Patton has his eyes set on challenges by buying into the training program of Coach Stephenson and the work ethic of the Georgia Northwestern squad during the off-season. Of course, there is more to their training routine than online gaming.

“Coach (Stephenson) has us working big in the weight room during this off-season,” said Moore. “Ben and I are getting together and following the program on our own to get ready for things to start up this fall.”

“Ben reminds us a lot of another young man that came from Dade County,” said Stephenson. “When Jesse (Moore) signed on to attend Georgia Northwestern, we felt right off the top that we were getting someone extremely special. We did. And now, I’ve got that feeling all over again.”

Moore was recently named to the TCSGAA All-Academic Team for the state of Georgia. Much like Moore, Patton has his sights set on a college education. “I’m interested in the Occupational Therapy Assistant program,” said Patton. “He’s always been really good with the kids in need,” said Patton’s mother, Robin Patton. “He has a big heart and we’re proud of that.”

The Occupational Therapy Assistant program at Georgia Northwestern is one of only two of its kind in the state of Georgia. The first Mustang to ever score points in a game, Trion’s Matt Hill will graduate from the O.T.A. program in June. “He’s currently in clinicals with a rehab program in Rome, Georgia,” said Stephenson. Georgia Northwestern and all units of the Technical College System of Georgia are the only colleges which qualify for the state’s HOPE Grant Program. “It’s a huge plus for all of our students,” said Stephenson.

Graduation for Georgia Northwestern will take place in Rome, Georgia this June. The next quarter begins classes on July 5 at the Floyd, Gordon, Polk, and Walker County Campuses, as well as online.

Tryouts for the 2010-11 squad will take place at the beginning of October during fall quarter.

For more information, contact GNTC’s Head Men’s Basketball Coach, David Stephenson, at basketball@gntc.edu.