His high school athletics future, however, is still uncertain.
The 6-foot-2, 190-pound senior wide receiver and University of Tennessee commitment enrolled Monday as a student at Knoxville West High School, school athletic director Steve Killian confirmed by text message Tuesday night.
Patrick's athletic eligibility will remain under the microscope for a bit. Killian added that he doesn't know, at this time, whether or not Patrick will be eligible to play football at West and has not seen Patrick's academic transcript.
Lenoir City football coach Mike Zeller announced last week that Patrick "will not be playing with Lenoir City" this season and chose not to make any further comments. Patrick rang up more than 1,000 all-purpose yards for Lenoir City last season, helping the Panthers reach the Class 5A state quarterfinals. He spent his first two seasons at Clinton High School.
TSSAA bylaws state that a transfer student can't participate in athletics "until his/her eligibility has been verified and approved by the Executive Director. The school is responsible for the accuracy and completeness of the information supplied to the Executive Director for this purpose."
Should he be ruled eligible, West stands to benefit greatly. The Rebels reached the Class 5A state semifinals the past two seasons. Adding an offensive threat like Patrick to its pass game would bolster West's chances at another long playoff run.