Manager, scout team player and junior at Iowa State Luke Patton graduated from Roland-Story in Story City, Iowa, as a four-sport athlete in track, football, basketball and baseball. He is now a junior in college working with Iowa State women’s basketball as a scout team practice player and manager; It is clear how important consistency and competitiveness have been in shaping Patton’s journey.
Patton starts his day off with class, which runs up to 2 p.m., then goes straight to practice from 2 to 5 p.m. five days a week. This cuts out a significant amount of one’s day and balancing a busy schedule with class and practice can be difficult. However, for Patton, this routine has become second nature.
“I love the consistency of every single week, I know exactly what I’m gonna have from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.,” Patton said.
It can be difficult to find motivation to keep this schedule of rushing from place to place each day, but Patton has been motivated by his enjoyment of attending practices and being around the coaching staff for Iowa State women’s basketball.
“One of the key factors is being able to hang out with people who are caring and fun to be around, from the head coach and assistant coaches to the managers and players,” Patton said.
Patton is heavily involved in assisting players before practice with different responsibilities, and after practice helping players improve in different areas of their game. Patton also helps the other manager with taking down equipment.
However, the middle of the practice is when Patton and the rest of the scout team scrimmage the players, which drives Patton more as a competitor.
“Me and the other practice players are going about as hard as we can against these women, on the women’s side,” Patton said. “It’s very competitive every single day and that is what I like most about it.”
The consistency and the competitiveness drive Patton to be prepared for practice, to be ready to compete and really push the women’s team to improve.
Patton is intrinsically motivated by the process of practicing and competing, but also has a selfless attitude that can be translated to every aspect of life.
“Being around and just being able to keep playing basketball,” Patton said. “Knowing that I’m doing something that’s bigger than myself and helping out an organization succeed.”
