Ole Miss' reaction to Treadwell injury convinced Patterson to commit

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His mind was pretty much made up Nov. 1.

Patterson and his family were in attendance for the Rebels’ 35-31 loss to Auburn. In the game, the Rebels not only saw their national title hopes dashed, but star wide receiver Laquon Treadwell suffered a season-ending leg injury in the final minutes.

The response afterwards, however, wasn’t what Patterson was expecting.

“After that game, they lost their perfect season, they lost their best player,” he said. “In the office afterwards, (Ole Miss head) coach (Hugh) Freeze and the whole staff were calm. They were calm and collected. They were more worried about Treadwell than losing the game. That kind of expressed to me what kind of people they are.”

“The biggest thing that happened for us as a family was going to the Auburn game,” Shea’s father, Sean, said. “We got to see how excited they were before the game and what was on the line. Then Ole Miss loses their best player and national championship hopes on a freakish play and we got the inside perspective of how they reacted to it the next day. We just got to see how close they are to one another. We said if this is the worst day for Ole Miss and possibly their modern-day history, then we want to be a part of it. Other places, they would have focused more on what the loss meant. But at Ole Miss, the focus was on their compassion for Laquon Treadwell and his well-being. It was amazing to see up close.”

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