Patton takes on a new fight

Bob Patton feels young. His energy level is high. And he's ready to begin anew.
Patton is a 52-year-old high school boys basketball coach, one with a number of ties to the Mahoning Valley.
He played under Dom Rosselli at Youngstown State, coached at Struthers and Liberty high schools and with the Youngstown Pride of the defunct World Basketball League.
Patton, however, has spent much of the past decade coaching teams at West Geauga, Lakewood and Lakewood St. Edward high schools.
Next challenge: Now, Patton, a Struthers native, has stepped into the coaching role again, this time as the head man at Cleveland Benedictine.
"There's nothing better than working with young kids, developing them and getting them to a point where they can get a scholarship," Patton said.
"These guys here remind me of a miniature World Basketball League team -- speed, quickness, a little bit of size."
Patton should know. He led the Pride of the WBL to a 106-51 record and two league championships in four years before the league folded in 1992.
That was the perfect time, Patton thought, to coach his sons, Bryan and Tommy. After one year at West Geauga as coach and athletic director, Patton was hired at Lakewood where he began the rebuilding process.
"There's something about high school basketball and coaching my sons that I really wanted to do," Patton said. "I wanted to be around my sons."
With the help of Bryan and Tommy, Patton helped to revitalize the Lakewood program. He took the Rangers to the district title game four times in his seven years there and came close to winning 100 games.
"I hate when administrators or people in the community say it's the kids' [fault for losing]," said Patton, who helped to establish a feeder system at Lakewood. "Kids are the same everywhere. What you have to do is change their attitude and focus."
Early days: It didn't take Patton long to focus his teams at Struthers (1979-81) and Liberty (1983-90). He led the Wildcats to an unbeaten record in his second year. After several up-and-down years at Liberty, he directed the Leopards to four straight 20-win seasons.
"Every position I've ever taken in high school basketball has always been rebuilding," Patton said.
"This is a little different because they've had success," the coach said of Benedictine, which won back-to-back state titles in 1997 and '98, lost in the state semifinals in '99 but struggled last year to a 6-15 record.
Prior to accepting the Benedictine job, Patton spent last year as an assistant under friend Eric Flannery at St. Edward. Now, Patton is running his own show again and wanting to change attitudes.
"When people thought of us as 40- or 50-point underdogs, I thought we could win the game," said Patton, who applied for the opening at Hubbard and some western Pennsylvania schools. "That's the kind of attitude I want the kids to have."
Patton, who resides in Avon, will bring his team to Warren Harding for a Saturday morning scrimmage with the Raiders and Kennedy Catholic. Benedictine also faces Rayen and Ursuline in the regular season.
Remembering his roots: Patton maintains a respect for the coaches and programs in the Mahoning Valley. To support his claim, he has Chaney graduate Bernard Bolha on his staff.
Together, they'll lead Benedictine into the 2001-02 season.
"Ed McCluskey from Farrell taught me one thing -- keep the game simple and execute the fundamentals," Patton said. "That's been my philosophy my entire career."
XBrian Richesson covers high school sports for The Vindicator. Write him at richesson@vindy.com.