Happy homecoming awaits Mitchell in Des Moines

Men's Basketball Ryan Powell, UND Media Relations

Happy homecoming awaits Mitchell in Des Moines

One of the recruiting pitches used by the North Dakota men's basketball staff to sell Patrick Mitchell on coming to play for the Fighting Sioux was the chance to go back home and play in front of friends and family at least once during his college career. Mitchell did not know exactly when that would be until the 2009-10 schedule was finalized last Spring, but he was confident it would happen.

“That was definitely one of the reasons I chose to come to North Dakota,” Mitchell said. “There were obviously other reasons, but knowing that we would play in Des Moines was always a plus for coming to UND.  Now, that opportunity is here and I cannot wait to get back home.”

Mitchell, the youngest of six children, was born and raised in the capital city of Iowa and returns there this weekend for the Drake Hy-Vee Classic. The Sioux will open the two-day tournament on Friday against UT Arlington at 5 p.m.

All five of Mitchell's siblings still reside in Des Moines, so the UND contingent for the tournament will have an extra boost for these two road games. Assistant coach Bryan Martin is also a native of Des Moines, so there will be plenty of Iowans on hand to root for the Sioux.

“It's exciting,” the 6-foot-8 swing man said. “I've been looking forward to this moment since I signed with UND. It'll be nice for my friends and family that really can't travel to see me play, to have that chance this weekend.”

It was Mitchell's father, Patrick, who quickly developed his youngest son's affinity for all sports. Mitchell's foray into the sports world began with tee-ball and to this day the sport of baseball is still his favorite. 

“I still love the game of baseball – just being on the mound and throwing fastballs,” Mitchell said. “I miss it, but I did not have much of a curve ball, so I knew my future was in basketball.”

His mom agreed. “He has always been a jumper,” she said. “I would have to yell at him to quit jumping in the house because he would always want to touch the door frames. He would take two bites of his dinner and then go see how high he could jump. I'm not sure he ever got a full meal in. It must have worked though because he has always been able to jump high.”

Baseball still dominated his adolescent days, which probably is not surprising when you consider Mitchell had a fastball that was clocked in the upper 80's. “I really thought it was going to be baseball,” Mitchell's father recalled of which sport his son might play collegiately. “He could really pitch and was also a great hitter, but as time went on he had a tough decision to make.”

Despite his affinity for baseball and lettering in both that and football at Dowling Catholic High School, the hardwood would inevitably be the surface that would provide him the path to a college scholarship.

“I think he realized that basketball was his future when he played for a traveling team – the Iowa Attack,” Theresa said.

According to his Dad that was about the 10th grade, but his basketball adventures began around the fourth grade when he took a liking to that sport as well.

The YMCA was about an eight-minute drive from the Mitchell household and whether it was by car or bike, the budding basketball star wore that path out.

“I spent countless hours at the 'Y' with my Dad,” Mitchell said. “I would just go and shoot for hours and he would rebound. I love to shoot the ball. I couldn't even guess at how many times we went during my childhood. It seemed like every day.”

By ninth grade, Mitchell had sprouted into a 6-foot-4 teenage beanstock and his freshman coach Kevin O'Hare thought he had a developing post player on his hands. So much so, the coach barred Mitchell from shooting 3-pointers to keep him in the paint.

“If I shot a 3-pointer in a game, I would have to do 100 push-ups,” Mitchell said. “I made that mistake a couple of times, but it did not stop me from going to the 'Y' and getting my shots in.”

Baseball still ruled the roost, but it was a deal Mitchell made with his Dad as a youngster playing on the diamond that helped put a little extra spring in his legs. If he hit a certain amount of home runs, then he would get a trampoline. Twenty-one home runs later, Mitchell had his trampoline and his father had to find a new incentive.

“That was about the eighth grade and we moved onto four-wheelers after that,” the elder Mitchell said. “Those were a bit more dangerous though, so I'm glad he enjoyed that trampoline.”

Mitchell would go on to a be three-year starter for Dowling Catholic's varsity team and earn first team All-Iowa recognition from the Des Moines Register as a senior. Mitchell gradually was able to expand his game to the perimeter because he knew it would have to evolve in order to succeed at the college level.

His hunch was correct because upon his arrival at UND, Mitchell was moved to the wing. “I wanted to get away from having my back to the basket all the time,” he said. “I knew that chance would come at UND. I really wanted to work hard to be an all-around player.”

After redshirting in 2007-08, Mitchell averaged 6.7 ppg in 27 appearances off the Fighting Sioux bench last season. His confidence continued to grow throughout the season and it showed in the Spring Thaw Tournament when he scored a career-high 15 points in UND's 68-66 victory over rival South Dakota.

If his freshman rules from high school still applied, Mitchell would have had to do 9,400 push-ups last season, but as one of the top 3-point shooters on the team he had the green light for the Sioux. He connected on 36 of those attempts from beyond the arc and shot 38 percent for the season. Mitchell also showed off those extra springs in his leg by leading the team 32 blocks.

However, to say Mitchell was satisfied with his redshirt freshman season would be far from the truth. More than anything, it opened his eyes to what type of competition the Division I level would offer and that left the 6-foot-8 sophomore even hungrier to develop his skills in the offseason.

“I wanted to come back this season and be more aggressive,” Mitchell said. “I wanted to come back bigger, stronger and faster. I had to improve my perimeter game even more.”

He did just that. Mitchell gained 30 pounds in the offseason, worked on his face-up game and even switched his name and number to reflect his change in attitude. After going by Pat Mitchell a season ago, he went back to going by Patrick and changed his number from No. 5 to No. 45.

“I wanted a new identity,” Mitchell said of his reasons for those changes. “I wore No. 45 in high school until my jersey was stolen and it has always been my favorite number, so I went back to that.”

It is also the same number of his favorite baseball player Pedro Martinez, who just so happened to return to the big leagues after a year away and have quite an impact on the Philadelphia Phillies' second straight postseason run to the World Series.

With a little inspiration from his pitching mentor and with four starting spots open after the graduation of a quartet of seniors from last season's 16-win team, Mitchell's renewed attitude earned him a bigger role on the 2009-10 edition of the Sioux.

His efforts paid immediate dividends. At the Grizzly Basketball Classic to open the season, Mitchell was named to the all-tournament team. He was the lone Sioux recognized after equaling his career-high with 15 points in the opener vs. Montana and exceeding that mark with 16 points in the next outing vs. Loyola Marymount.

Unfortunately against Boise State in what was UND's third game in three days, Mitchell's fast start was quickly stalled when he suffered a high-ankle sprain just three minutes into the contest. He would eventually returned to the game, but was clearly limited by the injury and finished with just five points.

As most ankle injuries do, the real pain came the next day and Mitchell's status for the foreseeable future was up in the air. It could be a couple of days, a couple of weeks or worst-case scenario, more than a month before he returned.

A vigorous rehab ensued and Mitchell was determined to get back just as soon as he could. Sure enough, Mitchell was back after missing only two games. He returned to action against Northern Colorado on Nov. 27 and sank a trio of 3-pointers to score nine points off the bench.

“Pat is a tough kid and we knew he was going to gut this thing out,” UND head coach Brian Jones said. “We wanted to ease him back into the line-up to not take any chances, but he has proven that he is ready to be a big-time contributor for us.”

And if you ask him, Mitchell knew all along that he would be back by this weekend. “I thought of this tournament immediately,” he said after injuring his ankle against the Broncos. “There was no way I was going to miss it.”
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Players Mentioned

Patrick Mitchell

Patrick Mitchell

F
6' 7"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Patrick Mitchell

Patrick Mitchell

6' 7"
Freshman
F