Alex Patton Interview - Class of 2027 Duke DB Commit

**SPEAKER_1** (0:01)
This is the Locked On Podcast Network, celebrating 10 years of your team every day.

**JJ Jackson** (0:11)
Exciting episode of Locked On Blue Devils here today, as we've got another class of 2027 Duke Football Commit hanging out. Alex Patton from the state of Texas, hanging out with us on the show today. Alex, it is good to see you, my friend. How are you doing? How's your summer going so far?

**Alex Patton** (0:28)
It's going pretty good. Just doing summer workouts, getting ready for my senior year. Just been chilling, vacation.

**JJ Jackson** (0:36)
Yeah. That's awesome, man. Well, let's get the most important stuff out of the way. Very simple question for you to start. I got to know this. Why Duke?

**Alex Patton** (0:45)
There's a whole lot of reasons. I went to go see a whole bunch of colleges. When I first stepped on Duke, the campus was absolutely beautiful. The coaches was amazing.
Really, I had to think a lot about life after football too. I felt like with that Duke education, I could really start a foundation after football, and it felt like home to me. I kept going up there, meeting the coaches, and that's why I picked it.

**JJ Jackson** (1:20)
You can't ask for much more. If you feel comfortable, it's the best of both worlds. Like you said, the academic piece is obviously a no brainer and a win there. So tell me about the timeline with Duke then. When did they first come on your radar? Who were the first coaches to reach out, kind of walk us through the whole journey of Alex Patton becoming a Duke football commit?

**Alex Patton** (1:40)
So it all started in my sophomore year. It was like mid season. Coach Bentley had hit me up and he offered me, and we just started chatting from there.
I came on my first visit around April. I think I went to the spring practice. I went to the spring game. And once it hit June 15, we just started chatting like every day from there. I came back up there.
Well, he came to one of my football games last year, my junior year. Then I went out there to a game and I just kept going up there. And then went on the official visit two months ago and I locked in.

**JJ Jackson** (2:20)
Yeah, that's amazing. What does it mean to you that VJ, Vangelo Bentley, coach there for Duke that you're talking about, that he's been able to establish such a big relationship with you?

**Alex Patton** (2:30)
Well, yeah, he's been a big inspiration. He knows a lot about football. I think he can really develop me to get to the next level where I want to get to.
And his knowledge is just insane. And I like his personality too. So that's how you get a basketball coach.

**JJ Jackson** (2:49)
Yeah, tell me about getting to know coach Manny Diaz. What's it been like getting to know the head coach?

**Alex Patton** (2:54)
Yeah, he's a really good guy.
He's a defensive coach too, which I like. So I mean, all that adds up. He knows a lot. He knows how to win. And he can bring out the best in players.

**JJ Jackson** (3:07)
No doubt. Yeah, I mean, that's a win all around. So when you look at this Duke staff and kind of the message that they pitched you, what was it specifically about you, the player, that intrigued them the most?

**Alex Patton** (3:20)
Oh, well, basically my skill sets, like they can use me in the boundary, you know, in the field. And I feel like I can fit their scheme pretty well because they rotate their guys around a lot, you know. So I like how they run their scheme. And there was preaching, like, I could play in the back, I could play, like, back there, safety, corner, nickel, all that.

**JJ Jackson** (3:41)
What are your earliest memories playing football?

**Alex Patton** (3:44)
My earliest memories?
I had a lot of success playing Little League. I won a lot of, like, championships. So I would say, I would say, like, when it was, like, 10U, we used to blow out everybody. Those are my earliest memories. I used to always go to the court.

**JJ Jackson** (4:02)
Yeah. I mean, did you fall in love with the game quickly? I've talked to a couple of commits recently that are saying it was kind of a slow burn, but then other guys are like, no, right away, instantly, I knew I will love football.

**Alex Patton** (4:13)
Yeah. Football was kind of put in my DNA because my dad's a coach. So I was around the game at an early age, and I got to see college players and action. I was like, this is definitely what I want to do. And I always went to a few NFL games, and I already knew what I wanted to do. So yeah, I fell in love when I was like four, so.