PATRICK MANIFOLD THE ATHLETE

Patrick Manifold first started playing basketball in high school at Notre Dame, aged 13. After finishing high school Patrick’s ability was noticed by Coach James Bamfield who recruited Patrick to play for his Basketball Academy at the College of West Anglia in Kings Lynn. Patrick’s game blossomed and he soon began to play for the men’s National League team the Kings Lynn Fury. After a successful season in England’s top flight EBL Division 1, Patrick set his sights on his childhood dream of playing college basketball in America.

In 2009 Patrick left his beloved England and moved 5,000 miles away to Presque Isle, Maine in the United States of America, where he would study for his degree and represent the University of Maine at Presque Isle Owls varsity basketball team. In Patrick’s freshman year he was very successful and won a series of awards, most notably ‘NCAA III Ind. Rookie of the Year’.

As a captain for the Owls, Patrick’s Sophomore and Junior (2nd & 3rd year) campaigns were equally impressive, and he again received much recognition and awards for his efforts. These included ‘Most Outstanding Scholar Athlete’, numerous ‘Conference Player of the Week & Month’, ‘MVP’ and ‘All-Conference’ teams. During Patrick’s four year college career he gained over 50lbs of muscle to help him succeed on the hardwood, and later wrote a book describing how he did it entitled “How To Gain Weight For Basketball” (available on amazon.com).

Patrick saved his best till last, and in his senior year he played the best basketball of his college career. On December 3rd while playing the University of Maine at Augusta, Patrick scored the 1000th point of his career on a thunderous one-handed dunk; his 6th point of 27 that night. Patrick did not stop there and continued his great play for the rest of the season. In his last 8 games as an Owl, Patrick averaged 23.5 points, 10.2 rebounds and shot an impressive 61% from the field- including games of  27 points and 13 rebounds vs. rivals Fort Kent on his Senior night,  31 points and 12 rebounds against Fisher College of Boston and 33 points and 10 rebounds vs. Eastern Nazarene. Patrick’s season averages his Senior year was an impressive 18 points per game to go along with 9 rebounds and an extremely efficient field goal percentage of 60%.

After his outstanding senior year, Patrick received a large amount of praise and recognition, most notably: 'NCAA III Independents National Player of the Year', and was also named an 'All-American' by the United States Collegiate Athletic Association.
In 87 games (4 seasons, 3 of which as a captain) at the University of Maine at Presque Isle, Patrick had scored 1,351 points and grabbed 704 rebounds, giving Patrick Manifold a college career average of 15.5 points per game, 8 rebounds per game and a field goal percentage of 51%. Most impressively, Patrick averaged 27 minutes per game over the 4 seasons which means in 2,349 minutes Patrick had 1,351 points and 704 rebounds; that works out at an extremely efficient 0.6 points and 0.3 rebounds PER MINUTE.
After graduating from university - with professional basketball still just a dream - Patrick stated publicly:

“After an amazing four years playing college basketball in America, I would like to announce my intention of fulfilling my dream of playing professional basketball. I believe I have what it takes to perform at the next level, and I really look forward to both the challenge and the opportunity. I would like to express my immense gratitude to the University of Maine at Presque Isle for giving me the opportunity to represent their fine institution on the hardwood. As the great Sir Winston Churchill once said ‘Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.’”

Patrick signed with a professional sports agent soon after, and in August of 2013 Patrick’s childhood dream came true and he signed his first professional basketball contract with the Glasgow Rocks in Scotland. Just over a month later Patrick was running out onto the court for his home debut to 7,000 cheering fans at his new teams home; the world class Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland, home of the Commonwealth Games.
Patrick’s rookie and sophomore seasons for the Glasgow Rocks and Surrey United were a great opportunity for him to learn the ropes of the professional ranks and gain valuable experience from veteran pros. He was part of the 2014 team that went to the BBL Trophy Final, and learned a lot from his two seasons in the BBL.

In 2015 Patrick was signed by a team in Melbourne, Australia, and moved to the other side of the world to pursue his dreams. It turned out to be a great decision as Patrick quickly showed his dominance down under.

Patrick had some huge games in the 2015 season, including:- 38 Points and 10 Rebounds vs. Cragieburn on May 16th- 34 Points & 15 Rebounds vs Mornington on April 18th - 33 Points & 18 Rebounds vs Western Port on July 18th - 32 Points & 14 Rebounds vs North East on July 11th- 30 Points (6 from 9, 3-Pointers) & 8 Rebounds vs Collingwood on May 30th

In the final month of the season, when his team was struggling with players out, Patrick averaged 33 points and 15 rebounds per game in the final 4 games of the season; showing what a Warrior he is by giving everything he had to help his team to be successful. During Patrick’s first season in Australia he was fortunate enough to receive multiple awards, including League’s Leading Scorer, All-Star Selection, Player of the Month, and 2x Player of the Week.

Patrick finished the season averaging a double-double, as well as being the league’s leading scorer with an extremely impressive 25.3 points per game to go along with 11.5 rebounds per game. 

Changing pace – and continents – again, Patrick played pro ball in Germany (around an hour from Berlin) during the 2016/2017 season, and somehow found time between travel and training to write his third book 'Happy Today'.

The very next year, Patrick spent the 2017/2018 campaign playing professionally in Italy (about 45 minutes from Milan) and once again proved his incredible scoring ability against tough Italian zone defenses designed - but unable - to stop him. While there Patrick completely fell in love with the Italian culture and beautiful surroundings; not to mention the delicious coffee, incredible food and amazing wine. Patrick even found time to learn “un po” (a little) of the language, and write his fourth book, a personal development book for children called 'Be All You Can Be'.

After leaving bellissima Italia, Patrick and his fiancée Chelsea were now expecting their first child, and at this point – after amazing experiences playing professionally all over the world – Patrick decided to retire from the sport, start a new business, and a new chapter of his life with his growing family in Nova Scotia, Canada, where he is now a permanent resident.

Patrick is now the owner of Nova Social a modern digital marketing company that specializes in social media, video production and content creation for businesses in and around the stunning province that he now calls home. Patrick’s daughter Sophia was born in January of 2019, and he has become – as he says – “The proudest father in the world”.

Please watch the video below to hear from Patrick himself about what it was like to have his childhood dreams come true and travel the world as a professional basketball player.