LSU announces hiring of assistant coach Patrick
The LSU men’s basketball coaching staff is complete again after the school announced the hiring of new assistant David Patrick on Wednesday.
Patrick, who most recently served as a player personnel scout for the Houston Rockets, has numerous south Louisiana ties, which include serving on the staff at Nicholls State.
“We are definitely excited about the addition of David Patrick to our staff,” first-year LSU coach Johnny Jones said in a university news release.
“He will not only be able to help us with game planning and practice preparation, but we look forward to him helping to raise our level of recruiting at LSU, both regionally as well as nationally. With his background in both Division I and professional basketball, he brings a level of experience to our program that will help us to move forward.”
Patrick replaces Shawn Forrest, who came with Jones from North Texas but stepped down earlier this month for what were termed personal reasons.
Patrick joins assistants Robert Kirby and Charlie Leonard and director of basketball operations Tom Kelsey on Jones’ staff.
A report by WBRZ-TV asserted that Forrest may have left because of his claim that he earned a master’s degree from Troy University. According to a spokesman at Troy, Forrest took classes but did not complete the master’s program there. Jones has declined to comment on the report.
Patrick served three years as an assistant coach for the Saint Mary’s men’s basketball team, following one season as the director of basketball operations for the Gaels. Patrick went to Saint Mary’s in 2006 from Nicholls State where he served as a volunteer coach for the 2005-06 season.
The Bermuda-born Patrick, who moved to Australia as a youngster, elected to come to the United States in 1994 for his senior year of high school after playing for the Australian Junior National team.
He played one season at Chapel Trafton High School in Baton Rouge (now The Dunham School) where he led Trafton to the state quarterfinals and was chosen as the Louisiana Player of the Year.
In his one year at Nicholls State, he was reunited with his former Chapel Trafton and current Nicholls coach J. P. Piper.
After high school, Patrick spent one season at Syracuse where he was a member of the 1996 NCAA Final Four team that finished as the national runner-up. He then transferred to Louisiana-Lafayette where he played for three seasons.
Following his collegiate playing days, Patrick went to Australia to play for the Canberra Cannons of the National Basketball League from 1999-01.
In 2000, following his first season with the Cannons, he was named the National Basketball League Rookie of the Year. He then joined the Chester Jets of England’s British Basketball League for the 2001-02 season, where he garnered second team all-league honors.
His final professional season was spent in Spain, where he was a member of Alcora of the LEB1 league in 2002-03.