If Pattman Stays Healthy, Dartmouth will be Better
by Jay Pearlman
Seeing them play three times last year (a win at Army and two losses to Harvard), I realized what Coach Terry Dunn surely knew about his Dartmouth squad: that as goes guard Leon Pattman, so go the Big Green. And Pattman was never quite right physically all of last season. Thus, while Pattman was recruited by the preceding staff, Dunn needed him healthy and productive for this his senior year, both to win games and to recruit his replacement. And while it hasn’t exactly worked out as planned, Pattman appears relatively healthy as conference play begins, giving Dartmouth a legitimate chance at the top half of the conference.
I wasn’t around three years ago, but I hear that when Pattman arrived in Hanover from White Station High in Memphis (the second of three following that route), everyone in the league cringed. A 6-4 lefty guard who could run well, get his own shot, rebound and hit threes, he was Ibrahim Jabber before Ibrahim Jabber. And even now, after more time injured and off than playing in college, when healthy he may be more versatile than Jabber (and equally effective) offensively, and the better rebounder. Now a senior, like Brian Cusworth at Harvard his career and improvement limited by injuries, Pattman has one thing left to give Coach Dunn that Cusworth can’t give Coach Frank Sullivan: eligibility through the end of this season.
Well, to no one’s surprise, hip and groin injuries kept Pattman out of Dartmouth’s first six games this season, all losses. Even after returning, he’s a threat to limp off every second of every game – as he did with a minor ankle sprain in the first half of the TV game against Quinnipiac. (Pattman could be the poster-boy for the phrase, “a minor injury is an injury to someone else”). But since his return, Dartmouth has won six of seven, Pattman has scored 20 or more four times, and his second half and overtime play earned a home win against Harvard in the first conference game. He finished with 27 points in that game (10-17 shooting, including 2-4 from long range), along with two rebounds, two assists, four blocks and a steal, all necessary to overcome Cusworth’s big game for the other guys. Then they have a return engagement at Harvard tonight, with a chance to repeat that performance on the road and go 2-0 in conference.
Now, Dunn doesn’t have the big men to compete with Cusworth (who graduates in three games), Danley and Zoller at Penn, or Bauman and “Big Ben” at Columbia. But with DeVon Mosley on the point (10 pts, 2 assts), and swing men Alex Barnett (9 pts, 5 bds) and Johnathan Ball (8, 5 rebounds; also from White Station High) along with Pattman (18.5, 5), Dartmouth’s guard contingent is the best in the league. And that should serve them well against the bottom four in the conference, Cornell, Yale and Brown, in addition to Harvard.
Coach Dunn was happy to talk about Pattman, happy for his program that he’s played the last month, and happiest of all for Leon’s personal growth over a difficult career. When the coach arrived on campus Pattman’s sophomore year, the first-year coach was rather “demand in practice,” and because of injuries to his hip and nearby tissue, “he was unable to do what was asked [of him].” He played just one game that year, then “by mutual agreement” between coach and player left the team, with no certainty ever to return. Somewhat surprisingly, Pattman was back as a junior, but didn’t play as much or as well as he had as a freshman. Only now, after missing six games to begin the year, are we seeing glimpses of the Pattman we missed for 2+ seasons.
Dunn was philosophical about the injuries, preferring to call them “a blessing in disguise.” For his program, injuries to start the year will allow a fresher Pattman for conference play, without all of the pounding his body might have taken.
“His legs are fresher now than if he would have played,” the coach said by phone, no doubt smiling. They also had a chance “to play younger guys in key situations, and watch them grow. But now with Leon back, he provides us (players and coaches) with a ‘sense of security,’ and “he can [still] take over a game.”
Focusing on his oft-injured star, Dunn said matter-of-factly that “if Pattman had been healthy, he would certainly have been all-conference all four years.” But now back after all the injuries, “he is more respectful of players around him, more willing to share the ball.” Thirteen conference games to go, hopefully to stay healthy, and perhaps to see just how good a Pattman-led Dartmouth can be.
