Gatorade Arkansas Player of the Year / Purdue's 2018 Recruiting Class
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Arkansas state champion Skylurr Patrick, a national letter of intent signee for Purdue women's soccer, has been selected as the Gatorade Player of the Year for her home state.
Patrick recorded 45 goals and 14 assists while leading Rogers High School to the Class 7A state championship. She is one of the 11 NLI signees set to join the Boilermakers for the 2018 season this fall.
As a midfielder for 19-5-1 RHS, Patrick delivered a combined five goals to provide all the scoring for her team in the semifinal and championship matches of the state tournament. Her hat trick was the difference in a 3-2 overtime win in the title game vs. Bryant High School. She also scored twice in a 2-1 semifinal victory.
The Gatorade Player of the Year awards program recognizes a high school athlete from each state in a large number of prep sports. Patrick now advances to the National Player of the Year ballot for girls' soccer. She will be able to select a youth sports organization to receive a $1,000 grant as part of the Gatorade Play It Forward program.
Patrick complied a 3.66 grade-point average at RHS. She volunteered at the Samaritan Shop, a non-profit retail store, in her community and served as a youth soccer coach. She scored 20 goals as a freshman to earn Northwest Arkansas Newcomer of the Year honors. She opted to focus on the club season with the TSC Hurricane ECNL the next two years. However, she also helped RHS win a state title in indoor track & field as a junior.
Purdue's newcomers are joining the program throughout the summer. Patrick is set to arrive on campus in early July for summer workouts.
Head coach Drew Roff on Patrick: "Skylurr brings a great combination of technical ability, athleticism and toughness. Those traits, along with her ability to cover a lot of ground, make her a well-rounded player and a perfect fit for us as a box-to-box midfielder or a wing back. Equally good at shutting players down and creating opportunities with the ball going forward, we look forward to Skylurr developing into a player that can positively impact the game in multiple ways."