Minnesota
Lu'Cye Patterson looks to lead Gophers men's basketball the way he led at Minnesota Prep Academy
On a spring afternoon in northeast Minneapolis, Lu’Cye Patterson sat in a weight room surrounded wall-to-wall with pictures of himself and fellow Minnesota Prep Academy alums now at the Division I level.
His father co-founded the Minneapolis prep school. Patterson helped put it on the basketball map.
The 6-2, 210-pound fifth-year senior was never recruited by the Gophers out of high school, but after stops at Missouri State and Charlotte, he transferred home for his final college season.
“It was kind of like a no-brainer for me to spend my last year here,” Patterson said. “And help get Minnesota back to where it’s supposed to be.”
The Gophers brought more excitement to their raised floor with last season’s 19-win NIT team, but a roster exodus put the responsibility on newcomers like Patterson and a few returners to keep the momentum going.
Patterson talked to the U’s leading scorer — Dawson Garcia, a fellow Minnesotan — about building the home state Big Ten program into a contender. Patterson also felt a strong connection to fourth-year Gophers coach Ben Johnson, a family friend going way back.
“He’s been a friend for 35-plus years,” Patterson’s father, Lucas, said of growing up with Johnson in Minneapolis. “We had been together for a long time playing on the same [youth] teams and all of that.”
Even before the Gophers coach saw a familiar name in the transfer portal, Johnson witnessed the young Patterson’s journey and growth from grade school to through four years of college.
“He’s a kid who I’ve known almost his entire life having grown up with his dad,” Johnson said. “I just really love his skill and IQ. Being a coach’s kid, to get a guy with his feel and skill level coming off a good year is only going to help our program and what we’re trying to do.”
Career full circle
After he visited the Gophers in April, Patterson’s phone kept buzzing with messages from other programs. Getting to play at Williams Arena, though, meant his career would come full circle. It was an easy decision.
“I definitely had a lot of schools texting from the highest level,” Patterson said. “But I knew the reason I hit the portal. It was to come home and play in front of my family.”
They watched him take off on the Minnesota basketball scene in 2018, leading Brooklyn Center as a sophomore to the school’s first state tournament in 35 years. From there, he transferred to Minnesota Prep Academy to play a tougher national prep schedule for his last two years of high school.
Patterson’s father and Donnell Bratton, a pastor in St. Paul, co-founded Minnesota Prep six years ago out of Jerry Gamble Boys and Girls club in north Minneapolis. The online-based school has 13 students now — just enough for one basketball team — and shares facilities at Mill City Church in northeast Minneapolis.
More than a dozen former players from Minnesota Prep will be at Division I schools, including Antonio Chol (Rutgers), Tavion Banks (Drake), D.J. Jefferson (Tennessee/Longwood) and Brenden Moss (Kent State).
Many college-preparatory schools field teams that exist outside the traditional high school system. The competition level can be much tougher. So is the lifestyle. Rarely is time not spent studying, training and traveling to out-of-state tournaments. Patterson’s brother, Jalyn, is a senior now at Minnesota Prep.
“It already had me ready for college,” Lu’Cye Patterson said. “The traveling, the going to school online, the competition. Some of these guys I played are even in the NBA now.”
Point guard needs
The 19-win Gophers caught Patterson’s eye when they needed another point guard to replace Big Ten assist leader Elijah Hawkins, who transferred to Texas Tech this spring.
Joining returning starter Mike Mitchell Jr., Patterson opens summer practice this month as one of four newcomers for the Gophers in the backcourt. That also includes transfers Brennan Rigsby (Oregon), Caleb Williams (Macalester) and Femi Odukale (New Mexico State) and top high school recruit Isaac Asuma.
“I like the way Ben Johnson lets his guards play,” Patterson said. “I feel like he gives his guards a lot of freedom to make mistakes, play their game and contribute to the team to help them win.”
Patterson is more of a score-first floor leader. He developed that confidence offensively after 82 career starts, including 56 games at Charlotte the past two seasons in the American Athletic Conference.
Earning all-league second-team honors last season, Patterson had eight games of 20 points or more, highlighted by a 27-point effort in a regular season-ending win over East Carolina. He also had 16 points in an upset of nationally ranked Florida Atlantic and 14 points against Duke last season.
Patterson’s scoring average improved each year in college from 2.5 points his first season at Missouri State to a team-best 14.6 points per game in 31 games last season for Charlotte. He shot just 12.5% from three-point range as a freshman but then 37% combined the past two seasons.
“He’s just a player who has just grinded from the start,” Johnson said. “Players who have a passion for it, who have great work ethic and talent find a way [to succeed] over time.”
Despite dealing with a bad ankle, Patterson put up career numbers last season and feels healthier than ever after losing 20 pounds. After focusing more on his body, he’s ready to take another step with his game.
“A lot of kids get recruited off their physical gifts, but they haven’t been through the gantlet of developing,” Lucas Patterson said. “Lu’Cye has been training and been able to sharpen his sword. He’s ready to contribute here right out of the gate.”
Of the many terrible roster decisions Minnesota sports teams have made over the past 30 years, the worst of the bunch may have been trading Randy Moss to the Raiders for the No. 7 pick in the draft and linebacker Napoleon Harris.
Why are we bringing up a trade that happened 21 years ago? Because the New York Giants traded defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence to the Cincinnati Bengals for the No. 10 pick in this week’s NFL Draft. It was the first time a non-quarterback has been traded for a top-10 pick since the infamous Moss trade in 2005.
Minnesota traded Moss for the Raiders’ first-round pick, Harris, and a seventh-round pick on March 2, 2005. The Vikings used the No. 7 pick on wide receiver Troy Williamson, who never panned out in the NFL. He had 24 catches for 372 yards and two touchdowns as a rookie, 37 receptions for 457 yards and zero touchdowns in 2006, and just 18 catches for 240 yards and one touchdown in 2007.
Williams led the league with 11 dropped passes in 2006. Minnesota traded him to the Jacksonville Jaguars for a sixth-round pick after the 2007 season, where he played in 10 games over two seasons and totaled just eight catches for 64 yards. He was cut before the start of the 2010 season, and that was a wrap on the former South Carolina speedster’s NFL career.
Moss didn’t put up jaw-dropping numbers with the Raiders for two seasons, but he set an NFL record with 23 touchdown catches in 2007 with the New England Patriots. He caught 47 touchdowns in 48 regular-season games with the Patriots from 2007 to 2009.
Whether it was trading Moss to the Raiders, the Timberwolves sending Kevin Garnett to the Boston Celtics — or drafting Ricky Rubio AND Johnny Flynn over Steph Curry — or the Twins cutting David Ortiz and watching him become one of the greatest players in MLB history with the Boston Red Sox, Minnesota sports teams have a long history of making terrible decisions.
The Bengals, meanwhile, gave up the 10th overall pick for one of the best defensive tackles in the league. They’ll likely get great production from Lawrence, while the Giants are now under pressure to get the 10th pick right. New York also holds the No. 5 pick in Thursday’s first round of the draft.
By the way, the Vikings had two picks in the first round of the 2005 draft. After taking Williamson, they used the No. 18 pick on defensive end Erasmus James. He was just as much of a bust as Williams, playing in 23 games in three years with the Vikings. He had four sacks as a rookie, but injuries wiped out most of his 2006 and 2007 seasons before he was traded to Washington for a conditional seventh-round pick.
James was cut by Washington in December 2009, marking the end of his NFL career.
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Kirill Kaprizov had a goal and two assists, and Ryan Hartman had a goal and an assist for the Wild, who are the No. 3 seed in the Central Division. Wallstedt made 27 saves in his Stanley Cup Playoff debut, and Zuccarello had three assists.
“I was definitely nervous,” said Wallstedt, a rookie. “I think it shows that it means something to you. I like a little bit of nerves. I think it’s something good. There were definitely some nerves throughout the day and then a little bit extra rolling into the game. But after the national anthem was over and the first couple pucks started coming, you’re good.
“I wanted to play and I felt like I have been going good. I was a little surprised (to get the start). But I was very excited as soon as I got the news. I just wanted to make sure I was ready today.”
Jason Robertson scored, and Jake Oettinger made 23 saves for the Stars, who are the No. 2 seed in the Central.
“We didn’t deserve to win,” Dallas forward Mikko Rantanen said. “I think two power-play goals for them, two a little-bit bounces for them where we had guys in the right spot. Just even keel. Playoffs are like this. Sometimes you lose a game, you can feel like you’re done. But that’s the mentality you need to have, you’ve got to reset and learn from mistakes.
“First 30 minutes, we didn’t win enough battles. They were just that little bit stronger in the battles and that’s why they were able to make us defend more than we want to. Just got to be stronger.”
Game 2 is here on Monday (9:30 p.m. ET; FDSNWI, FDSNNO, Victory+, ESPN, TVAS2, SN360).
“We prepped for a couple days coming into this one. Now, we will gather information from this game and continue to move forward,” Minnesota coach John Hynes said. “For me, it’s game to game and day to day. We want to continue to get better. We won and they [Dallas] lost. It’s not so much being satisfied where you’re at or that’s what it is. We need to continue to find ways to get better.”
Eriksson Ek gave the Wild a 1-0 lead at 5:35 of the first period on the power play. He scored on a one-timer from the left hash marks to finish a tic-tac-toe passing play with Zuccarello and Boldy, who found an open Eriksson Ek with a pass from the goal line.
“I think every team in the playoffs talks about not getting too high or too low. Just enjoy every day and each game and then we will go from there,” Eriksson Ek said. “I think we played pretty good today. The next game is a new game, so we just have to do it over and over every game. We know they are probably not the happiest with that game, so I am sure it’s going to be hard next game.”
Minnesota prosecutors charged a federal immigration agent with assault accusing him of involvement in a February road-rage incident.
Trump administration ends Minnesota immigration operation
Border Czar Tom Homan announced the end of Minnesota’s immigration operation after fatal shootings heightened tension and community backlash.
Minnesota prosecutors charged a federal immigration agent with assault, saying the agent was involved in a February road-rage incident during the Trump administration’s Operation Metro Surge.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Gregory Donnell Morgan Jr., 35, faces two counts of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon, according to April 16 Hennepin County court records. He has a nationwide warrant for his arrest.
On Feb. 5, prosecutors said Morgan allegedly drove illegally on the shoulder of a congested Minnesota highway in an unmarked SUV and pointed his weapon at two people in another car.
Morgan is the first agent charged in Operation Metro Surge, the controversial Minneapolis-area federal immigration operation that resulted in two American citizens fatally shot by federal officials, according to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office.
The charges “reflect an important milestone in our efforts to seek accountability for the harms inflicted on our community during Operation Metro Surge,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in an April 16 video statement.
Second-degree assault with a gun has a presumptive sentence of 36 months in prison if convicted, she said.
“Mr. Morgan’s conduct was extremely dangerous,” she said, adding his actions could have led to “another disastrous incident” in the community.
Neither ICE nor the Department of Homeland Security immediately responded to email requests for comment. A cell phone listed for Morgan, identified as a Maryland resident, didn’t immediately respond to a call or text message.
The incident came less than two weeks after two Customs and Border Protection officers shot and killed Alex Pretti, 37, during a protest in Minneapolis. Pretti would be the second American killed during Metro Surge after an ICE agent in early January fatally shot Renee Good, 37, while she drove her SUV in Minneapolis near an immigration operation.
Later in February, the Trump administration drew down Metro Surge, which officials called the largest immigration operation in modern American history.
Investigators said they interviewed Morgan, who identified himself as the driver. Morgan told investigators he and the other ICE employee were returning from a surveillance shift. Morgan said he feared for his life and others’ safety, so he pulled up alongside the vehicle and drew his Glock 19 firearm. He said he identified himself as police.
State investigators said neither Morgan nor the other ICE agent reported the incident to an ICE supervisor.
The April 16 warrant, signed by District Court Judge Paul Scoggin, said there was a “substantial likelihood” Morgan would fail to respond to a summons, and officials couldn’t locate him.
On April 18, Daniel Borgertpoepping, a spokesperson for the county attorney’s office, said there is no knowledge of Morgan being arrested yet.
Eduardo Cuevas is based in New York City. Reach him by email at emcuevas1@usatoday.com or on Signal at emcuevas.01.
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