The women’s basketball team at St. John’s University is working hard to make its return to the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament. Thus far, it’s been an outstanding season for the Red Storm, which amassed its longest-ever winning streak. Regardless of how far the team advances in the tournament, graduate student forward Danielle Patterson will be in Dallas, site of the Final Four, taking part in the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association’s So You Want to Be a Coach. Now in its 20th year, the program increases understanding of the skills necessary to get a coaching job and succeed.
“It’s taking my next step, knowing this is my last season of eligibility. I want to stay around the game as long as possible. If I choose not to continue with a playing career, teaching and being in that realm is something I’ve always wanted to do,” said Patterson.
Patterson’s journey in college basketball has been longer than she initially envisioned. The Brooklyn native started at Notre Dame, but after two years transferred to Indiana, where she sat out a year due to transfer rules in effect at that time and then played one season cut short by injury, completing her bachelor’s in broadcast communications. She decided to finish her college playing days close to home and has made good use of her time at St. John’s. Not only has she taken her game to a new level, she earned a master’s degree in sports management and is currently working toward an MBA in strategic management.
“Coaching is kind of the next step,” she said. “From each of my coaches I’ve had in college, I’ve learned different things. I can use all those things and hopefully one day mold myself to be the coach that players want to play for. Helping these kids become young women the same way I had the chance to do it.”
In her courses, there is conversation about the business side of coaching and collegiate athletics, which Patterson believes will help her in her career. “This game provides me with so many different outlets, and I have a lot of options going forward,” she said.
Of course, Patterson is enjoying being part of the Red Storm’s winning season. “A lot of it is the work we put in every single day,” she said. “For a lot of us, this is our last season. We want to end in the right way.”