Nansemond-Suffolk Academy senior forward C.J. Patterson is big for the Saints’ basketball team this season.

From near the start of the season, NSA coach Chris Prince pegged senior forward C.J. Patterson as the most versatile player on the team, somebody the team depends on and through which it runs its offense.

Patterson had rarely illustrated better why his coach said these things than on Jan. 27 and 29, with huge double-doubles that led to his becoming the Duke Automotive-Suffolk News-Herald Player of the Week.

“My teammates really got me involved in a really good spot and very good situation for me to score,” Patterson said. “(The) teams we were playing were shorter, so they really gave me the ball in the post a lot, and Drew Corrigan does a really good job of passing me the ball in the post, and the same with Logan Lokie.”

On Jan. 27, he contributed 18 points and 18 rebounds to a 48-39 conference road win over Peninsula Catholic High School.

Two days later, he helped secure his team its first spot in the conference tournament since 2011 by producing 27 points and 19 rebounds in a 62-53 conference victory over host Norfolk Christian School.

Accounting for his impressive rebounding totals, Patterson said, “Coach told me to crash the boards hard and everything like that, so I’m really starting to get aggressive.”

Of Patterson’s abilities, Prince said, “He’s showed some glimpses of scoring really well for us this year. He’s had an ankle injury and a flu bug that hit him, so that’s caused him to have a couple low-scoring games where he tried to tough it out and just couldn’t finish the game.”

In terms of the 6-foot-5-inch forward’s game, the coach said, “He’s a better slasher than he is a shooter, so he gets a lot of stuff going to the basket. He’s done well posting up guys that are his size or smaller, and he’s a good free throw shooter, so if we get him to the free throw line, we know that’s a good opportunity for him to score.”

Prince, who served as an assistant coach for the Saints last season, has seen real growth in Patterson this season.

“He came in stronger, more explosive,” he said. “You could tell he’d worked in the weight room for football and in the offseason, so he’s able to get off the floor quicker for rebounds and going up strong down low.”

The coach said Patterson has also gained more maturity, which has aided the team, too.

“He was named a captain this year,” Prince said. “His teammates look up to him.”

Patterson started playing basketball when he was 6 and has had a diverse career as a high school student.

His father being in the military and his mother coaching basketball at the college level has moved him around, and he has attended high school in New York, California and now Virginia.

As for what got him into the sport, he points to his family, notably his mother, Trina Patterson, a former University of Virginia player, now assistant coach of women’s basketball at Old Dominion University.

“It’s just a habit in our family,” he said.