OGDEN — Two years ago, David Patten was rolling around campus in his El Camino with floppy hair, a surfer-dude attitude and a heavy heart.
Then a sophomore, the 6-foot-8 forward came to Weber State as a promising athlete. He played basketball and volleyball at Pepperdine in scenic Malibu. He left school after one year, though, for a variety of reasons — not the least of which was the deteriorating health of his mother, Rhonda, who was suffering from cancer.
He spent a year at Santa Ana Junior College but did not play basketball there. When he arrived at WSU he still had three years of eligibility left, and he's filled those three seasons with as many ups and downs as one could possibly imagine.
Rhonda died just two days before Patten was to start practice with his team as a sophomore. He grew his hair out extra long to donate his locks to a cancer patient charity.
That, of course, is ancient history in so many ways. While the memory of his mother is still fresh and important, Patten's life has gone forward — but not without his share of difficulties on the court.
"This year has been amazing," Patten said. "I've never been on a team that's like this. We all look out for each other. I think this is the best 'team' I've ever been a part of, and you have to credit the coaches for a lot of that."
The Wildcats suffered the first back-to-back losing seasons in decades during Patten's time in Ogden. He broke two bones in his left foot as a sophomore and missed most of the conference season.
As a junior, Patten was expected to be a team leader. But with the team deteriorating around him, he often found himself at odds with his coach and ended the season in Joe Cravens' doghouse — out of the starting lineup and occasionally throwing moody fits on the sideline as he, and his team, struggled.
Those hard times often hid the personality of one of the most charismatic players in Weber State's history.
Patten has endeared himself to fans of the Wildcats this season in a variety of ways. Where he often got frustrated and lost his cool and focus in previous seasons, he is now the unquestioned leader of the team.
"I think the biggest difference is his maturity," WSU coach Randy Rahe said. "We got here and had a talk with him. We asked him to change his whole game for us. He'd been playing a lot on the perimeter, and we asked him to take his game inside and also to be one of our leaders. He's done everything we've asked him to do.
"Without David, I don't think we would have had nearly as much success this year as we've had," Rahe said. "He's everything we could have hoped for from a senior."
Patten is also everything a fan could possibly hope for — he's one of them.
Twice the volleyball nut has been ejected from the stands after heckling officials at WSU matches. The 1985 El Camino he proudly drives around town once belonged to his grandfather, and he's unsure how many miles it's been driven because the odometer no longer works.
The communications major gives reporters a hard time for not asking enough, or not compelling enough, questions. He lists his favorite athlete as Jim "Hacksaw" Duggan, and his favorite rock band is Margot and the Nuclear So-Sos.
He sucks down Coca-Cola like it's going stale before games and usually gets so nervous before — or occasionally during — games that he vomits his pre-game meal into a nearby garbage can.
"No matter what I eat," Patten said earlier this season, "it comes up. I don't know if it's nerves as much as it is anxiousness. I'm really excited to play. It's been happening for a long time. It happened in high school. It starts to become sort of a comfort level, sort of a mental thing."
Patten's play has also earned favorite-son status with his highlight-reel play. Most Weber State fans know and love Harold Arceneaux. "The Show" led the Wildcats to an upset over North Carolina in the 1999 NCAA tournament and set a school record with 48 dunks in one season.
Patten, though, broke that record weeks ago and has 53 dunks heading into Thursday's game against the Bruins.
"That's kind of misleading," he says. "I've missed more layups than I've made dunks. So when I go up there, I think I probably have a better chance of scoring if I try to dunk it than if I shoot a layup."
Nothing, though, got the Dee Events Center crowd excited as much as seeing Patten return to the court less than 48 hours after taking a vicious elbow to the face and having his left cheekbone broken in multiple places. With his bruised and swollen face protected behind a mask, Patten returned to the court against Northern Arizona and scored 22 points while grabbing seven rebounds in a key victory.
The senior is excited about playing against UCLA. The Southern California boy plays in summer leagues with many of the Bruins players and considers them friends.
"I can't wait," he said. "All we can do is go out there and play them like we would any other team. We'll give it our best shot."
On the air
No. 15 Weber State (20-11) vs. No. 2 UCLA (26-5)
Arco Arena, Sacramento
Thursday, 5:25 p.m.
TV: CBS
Radio: 1430 AM
E-mail: jeborn@desnews.com