Ron Patterson joins Indiana’s 2012 recruiting class

Ron Patterson could have left the state of Indiana for college. But ultimately, he decided it would be best to stay home.

During his second visit this week to Bloomington, the Broad Ripple guard gave a verbal commitment to Tom Crean on Sunday afternoon.

“It was close to home,” Patterson told Inside the Hall of his choice to play for the Hoosiers. “I wanted to stay. After this visit, I knew I wanted to come.”

Patterson summed up Crean’s reaction to the news, which was delivered in person, with four simple words.

“He started going crazy,” he laughed.

The 6-3 guard, ranked No. 57 nationally by Scout.com, had offers from several schools including Tennessee, Xavier and Virginia Tech. But ultimately, Indiana, the first school to offer Patterson during his freshman season, won out.

He’s the second member of IU’s 2012 class, joining 7-footer Peter Jurkin, who committed on Monday at adidas Nations in Chicago.

With his decision out of the way, Patterson said he’d like to see one of his former AAU teammates join him in Bloomington.

“I’d like to see Jeremy Hollowell come play with me,” he said.

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Here’s Inside the Hall’s scouting report on Patterson from the Kentucky Hoopfest:

It’s not difficult to become a fan of Patterson once you observe all of the intangibles he brings to the table. While others are focused on scoring as much as possible or attempting to throw down ridiculous dunks, Patterson sticks to the basics: hard-nosed defense, finding the open man, finishing in traffic and crashing the boards. His shot from the perimeter is also continuing to improve. He’s not the most highly sought after recruit Indiana is pursuing for the 2012 class, but he’s probably the best fit in terms of filling a need. And if he can develop the handle to run the point, that’ll make him even more valuable at the next level.

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