Deb Patterson is currently the director of basketball operations for the Northern Colorado women"s basketball team
Education
A native of Rockford, Illinois., Patterson graduated from Rockford West High School then attended Rockford College, where she was a member of the Rockford College Hall of Fame after playing field hockey from 1975-1979. The 2004 team went 24-8 including 12-4 in the conference, and finished 16th in the nation, by the Associated Press poll.
Career
Patterson is the former head women"s basketball coach at Kansas State. She was relieved of her coaching duties on March 9, 2014. She is the all-time winningest coach in school history.
Although she never played basketball in college, she later went on to coach basketball.
Over the last five years her teams have gone 70-10 on their home court, despite off-court turmoil involving the emotional abuse of many players and assistant coaches as reported by the Kansas City Star in October 2008. In 2008, Patterson led the Wildcats to a Big 12 Conference Regular season championship, after finishing in last place in 2007.
The Wildcats went on to lose their first game in the 2008 Big 12 Women"s Basketball Tournament against Iowa State, 66-65 in Overtime. In the last five seasons the Wildcats have ranked in the Top 15 nationally in total attendance under her tenure.
The Top ten crowds in school history have all occurred during her tenure.
In the 2002 season, her team went 29-5, establishing school records for wins and winning percentage. At one point Kansas State was ranked 2nd in the nation, which was the highest ranking in school history. She also served as an assistant coach at Vanderbilt, and Southern Illinois.
In 1997, Patterson was named an assistant coach of the United States of America representative to the World University Games, held in Marsala, Sicily, Italy.
This year, the United States of America team would be dominant, with easy victories in all but one contest. After winning their first three contests by no fewer than 38 points, the United States of America team faced Russia.
The game had five ties and 13 lead changes. Connecticut"s Nykesha Sales led the scoring of the United States of America team with 17 points, hitting connective baskets in the second half to give the United States of America a lead it would not give up.
In 1998, Patterson was named an assistant coach of the United States of America National Team, under head coach Nell Fortner.
The United States of America team competed in the World Championships held in three cities in Germany, including Berlin, Germany. In the quarterfinals, the United States of America team beat Slovakia 89–62. In the semifinal match up against Brazil.
The championship game was a rematch against Russia, a team the United States of America had defeated by 36 points in the preliminary round.
However, the gold medal game would unfold very differently. The United States of America team was behind most of the game, with a nine-point deficit at halftime.
When there were under two minutes to play, the United States of America was still behind, but Ruthie Bolton hit a three-pointer to give the United States of America team a one-point lead. After the Russians tied the game, Bolton hit another three to give the United States of America team a lead they would not relinquish.