One of the reasons the 2025 recruiting spotlight has altered to the Texas Tri-Regions, was the return of 6’6” Patton Pinkins (Frenship HS). He returned for his sophomore year at Frenship HS as his family had been in Florida for the last four years. His father patrols the college sidelines as an assistant coach, so traveling and moving are certainly no strangers to the family equation.

The move has been a symmetrical one for Pinkins as he’s reunited with childhood friends and the staff over at Frenship haven’t missed a beat in making him a focal point of the Tigers attack.

“We had a really good year, our coaching staff is really good. We won 30 games, 2 years in a row with a 30 win season, that was huge. Coach Page put a lot of trust into me the whole season and that really helped me in going to the spring and summer,” said Pinkins.

He’s parlayed a strong high school season and just wrapped up the AAU grind at the end of July. Patton credits his steady play and the opportunity to play on the EYBL circuit as a big part of why he’s now on several recruiting boards and a 4-Star, National Top 100 prospect.

“That’s been huge all of my offers have been throughout this summer and I was playing with JL3 Nike EYBL out of Houston.   There is a lot of college coaches to scout you and I performed really well and was blessed to receive a couple of offers.”

His current offer count stands at eight: UTSA, Cal, Jacksonville, Cincinnati, Radford, LSU, Oklahoma, and Ole Miss. Fully expect Pinkins to go well into double digits as he’s only beginning his junior season on the hardwood. 247 Sports has him listed with a composite National ranking of 71.

Being from the 806, many will first tell you that the West Texas plains are know more for their tumbleweeds and dust-storms. So it’s no surprise that on-lookers are barely seeing what Pinkins is capable of doing. At TABC in June, Pinkins put on a shooting clinic. In one game we covered, he connected on six treys. He’s quick to note that he can fire it from deep.

“Shooting the ball, that’s probably my strongest. Catching and shooting off the dribble. Getting to the basket is solid, but I can get better. My defense is solid, but I need to get better. Honestly, everything needs to improve for the next level.”

With several options already on the table and the accelerated pace of recruiting, there is one school with a slight edge, no coincidence. It’s Ole’ Miss, where his father is an assistant. A final decision is not something that Patton has at the immediate forefront of entering his junior season. He’ll continue to weigh all his options while making another successful high school run with Frenship. Bringing a brighter spotlight to West Texas.

“We actually sat down today, the three of us, me, my mom and dad. It’ll probably come by the end of my junior year, but we’re in no rush,” said Pinkins. “I do look at the rankings to see where I’m at. I also look at the guys in front of me. That’s one of my goals is to see who’s in front of me to inch myself up a little bit. I know how good I am, but that’s not something I really focus on too much, it’ll all play itself out.”

Pinkins headlines a 2025 class in the Texas Tri-Regions that currently see’s 3 Top National prospects ranked in the Top 100, Hudson Greer (Lake Travis) and Kingston Flemings (Brennan) round out the trio. Expect Patton to make plenty of more headlines come this fall and winter. His Frenship High School team will be front and center at our inaugural West Texas High School Showdown on October 7th. You can bet that there will be plenty of eyes on the 806 catching a glimpse of this talented prospect.