[Q] Coach Patterson, congratulations on your wonderful recruiting year this year. Why don't you spend a minute or two to tell us about your general "recruiting philosophy"?

[SP] First and foremost we try to identify individuals who we feel will fit into the Alabama gymnastics family. By that I mean an individual who likes a caring, family environment who place academics first and want to compete for a National championship. We are interested in finding young ladies who want to serve as role models for our program and the University.

[Q] I know a lot of people at the University and in the community who are extremely proud of this program because of the way you have been able to achieve such tremendous success on the mat without sacrificing academics. In fact, there are people out there who almost look at the athletics as the secondary element to this program. Was there ever a time when you wondered if you might not could do both?

[SP] We went to our first National Championship in 1984 and finished fourth. From that point we were a contender, but it wasn't until 1988 when we won our first National Championship that I truly felt that it was possible to achieve an NCAA title and maintain our philosophy. The biggest thing about our approach is that we can be competitive on a national level virtually every year and still maintain our high academic standards. But, it is extremely difficult to win a title every year this way because, frankly, it is difficult to win just when you are going on raw talent.

[Q] Can you give us an indication of what you do with a recruit when they come in to look at The University of Alabama gymnastic program?

[SP] Our biggest selling point for our program is our ladies themselves. A recruit will spend the majority of their time hosted by one of our student athletes. We spend a great deal of time exploring their area of academic interest and we try to convey the support staff we have available to help them achieve their goals both academically and athletically.

[Q] How many girls did you have in this year?

[SP] We actually had fourteen kids come in for a visit.

[Q] How many of them indicated that they wanted to come to The University of Alabama?

[SP] Of those fourteen, all but one indicated that we were their first choice.

[Q] Boy, you must really have to make some tough decisions. Can you tell us, in general, how you decide which ladies to offer scholarships to?

[SP] We corresponded with over sixty athletes. In the July contact period we narrowed our list down to twenty that we made in-home visits to. After the in-home visits we offered official on-campus visits to fourteen kids. From that point, a lot is based on the recruits' interaction with our team. Then considering their athletic abilities, their personalities, and their commitment to the program, we make some tough decisions as to who to offer scholarships.

[Q] Care to share any real insights into this year? Not the "oh, we should improve, yada, yada, yada" stuff, but maybe you might point out some things we will want to look for, like new routines and the like.

[SP] I think the biggest thing that the fans will have to realize is that we have a great deal of youth and enthusiasm and it has been a real joy to be in the gym coaching this team. On the other hand, with youth comes inexperience, and as a coaching staff we realize that we are going to experience growing pains at the beginning of the season. And by that I mean we are going to have to allow our freshman to make some mistakes without having those mistakes be real negatives. Because, I feel that if everyone will be supportive of these athletes, they will be a competitive team at championship season.

[Q] One last thing, right out of the blue: how is David's health?

[SP] Excellent. Obviously we are in a much better position this year than we were last year at this time. He continues to have check ups every three months. We are fortunate that there has been no indication of any re-occurring problem.