When the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame came calling in September of 2002, Sarah Patterson was more than a little surprised.

"It wasn't really something I thought about a lot," Patterson said. "And I certainly didn't expect to hear from them while I was still coaching. I thought it was nice that my name has been on the ballot the last year or two, but beyond that..."

Even after being voted in this past Fall, Patterson has spent most of the time between now and then getting this year's team, which includes seven freshmen among the 14 gymnasts, heading in the right direction. She's done that and done it well. The Tide is ranked No. 3 in the nation going into Saturday's meet against Kentucky.

And while she has put some thought into how she is going to get from a 2 p.m. Saturday home meet in Tuscaloosa against Kentucky to the induction banquet later that night in Birmingham, Ala., there has been precious little time to think of anything else, like what she's going to say when she gets to the hall of fame Saturday.

"I really haven't had a chance to decide what I'm going to say," Patterson said with a laugh. "I know that I have five minutes and I know that I'm the last one to speak, so that gives me a little extra time. Maybe I'll figure it out on the way up there."

And just as Sarah and David Patterson have made their way through the ups and downs of their coaching career together, they will take the 60-mile, 24-year trip from Coleman Coliseum to the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame together.

"While it's my name that's going on the plaque in the hall of fame, this honor is David and mine together. I know and everyone else associated with the program knows that we did this together," she said. "And I hope everyone will realize that it's the accomplishments of the two of us that are being recognized."

Over the years, the Pattersons have built a program that is second to none in terms of combining athletic and academic excellence with a strong sense of community involvement. The athletes that come out of the Alabama program are role models in the Tuscaloosa and University community.

"When I first came to the University I never envisioned or thought about a hall of fame career," Patterson said. "I just knew that we wanted to have a program that did everything in a first class manner. We wanted Alabama to win championships, but also be the best we could be in the classroom and to really make a positive impact in the community as well."

Under the Pattersons' tutelage, Alabama has won four NCAA Championships, the first coming in 1988, followed by one in 1991, 1996 and the latest that came just last season when an upstart Tide team out-dueled one of strongest fields in recent memory to capture the national title.

In addition to its four NCAA titles, Alabama has collected 18 NCAA Regional titles and four Southeastern Conference crowns. The Pattersons have taken the Tide to 20 consecutive NCAA Championships and finished fifth or better nationally an astonishing 18 times. Individually Alabama gymnasts have earned 13 NCAA titles.

Academically Tide gymnasts lead the nation with eight NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships and the league with seven SEC Postgraduate Scholarships. Twice Alabama gymnasts have been named SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Since 1991, when the award was introduced, Tide gymnasts have earned Scholastic All-American honors 77 times, including 13 gymnasts last season alone.

Patterson is the sixth woman to be inducted into the hall of fame and the first female coach. She joins such legendary mentors as Paul Bryant, Gene Stallings and CM Newton in the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame. Patterson will be inducted with friend and former boss Steve Sloan, who in addition to an All-American football career at Alabama that included a national title in 1965, was athletics director in the late 1980s. The other inductees are: Rex Frederick/Basketball; Cleon Jones/Baseball; Al Del Greco/Football; Guy Morton/Baseball; Larry Willingham/Football; Amos Otis/Baseball.