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Northern Illinois to name Ricardo Patton New Head Coach |
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Written by Dave Ruthenberg
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Monday, March 19 2007 |
Northern Illinois will name Ricardo Patton as its new men's head basketball coach at a press conference scheduled for today at 11:00 am CDT in Chicago. The former Colorado head coach replaces Rob Judson who was fired by the Huskies after compiling a 7-23 record this season.
Northern Illinois will name Ricardo Patton as its new men's head basketball coach at a press conference scheduled for today at 11:00 am CDT in Chicago. The former Colorado head coach replaces Rob Judson who was fired by the Huskies after compiling a 7-23 record this season.  Patton concluded his eleventh season as head coach of Colorado, when the Buffaloes bowed out of the Big 12 tournament earlier this month to Texas Tech. Colorado finished 7-20 this past season, Patton's worst since being named head coach March 5, 1996.
Patton had earlier this season submitted his resignation, on October 25, reportedly frustrated over the fact that he had not been offered a contract extension.
During his tenure as head coach at Colorado, Patton compiled an overall mark of 184-160 and coached the Buffs to three appearances in the NCAA Tournament. The1996-1997 season represented the high-water mark for Patton as Colorado finished 22-10 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, Patton's first full season as head coach at Colorado. Patton also guided Colorado to three NIT appearances during his eleven years. This past season saw Colorado suffer its worst season at the gate under Patton as the Buffaloes averaged only 3,311 fans which included a loss at home to Colorado State for this first time since 1957.
Following the 2005-2006 season, Patton was cleared of racial harassment allegations after an investigation by the University of Colorado. Patton had reportedly told players that lighter-skinned blacks were thought of as weaker than darker-skinned blacks by slave owners. The players stated that Patton was using this as motivation while Patton stated that he was trying to discuss black history with his players.
The University's investigation indicated that there was no merit into the allegation of racial harassment, however Patton was found to have violated the University's policy on reporting sexual harassment in another incident after a female employee reported overhearing sexually suggestive comments directed toward her by a male employee. Patton ordered the male employee to attend counseling but did not report the incident to the University as required. This was felt to be a minor, isolated matter and no further action was recommended. Prior to being named head coach at Colorado, Patton served as an assistant for two years at Colorado and is widely credited with recruiting future NBA All-Star Chauncey Billups and as an assistant at Tennessee State Patton landed another future NBA star in Carlos Rogers. Patton left the Colorado program as the second winningest coach in Buffaloes history. Ricardo Patton's Record at Colorado:
| Season |
Overall |
Conference |
Tournament |
| 2006-2007 |
7-20 |
3-13 |
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| 2005-2006 |
20-10 |
9-7 |
NIT |
| 2004-2005 |
14-16 |
4-12 |
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| 2003-2004 |
18-11 |
10-6 |
NIT |
| 2002-2003 |
20-12 |
9-7 |
NCAA |
| 2001-2002 |
15-14 |
5-11 |
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| 2000-2001 |
15-15 |
5-11 |
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| 1999-2000 |
18-14 |
7-9 |
NCAA |
| 1998-1999 |
18-15 |
7-9 |
NIT |
| 1997-1998 |
13-14 |
7-9 |
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| 1996-1997 |
22-10 |
11-5 |
NCAA |
| 1995-1996* |
4-9 |
3-8 |
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*named interim head coach January, 1996
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Last Updated ( Sunday, October 07 2007 )
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