Since he was a little kid, senior Patrick Selna had always dreamed of playing Pac-12 football. His sophomore year, he decided that this was what he really wanted and completely immersed himself in the game he loved. He soon found that recruitment was a grueling process, and it was far from a matter of just talent or luck. However, this only inspired him more. Backing up his aspirations with immense sacrifice and hard work, he did all the little things that go unnoticed and it paid off under the lights and in the classroom. Soon, his dream was no longer a dream, but a reality. In August, Selna committed to play Pac-12 college football.

Selna is a 6’6”, 255 lb offensive tackle who is a consensus three-star prospect according to 247sports. A three-year varsity player and current co-captain, he was awarded Western Alameda County Conference Foothill Division second team all-league honors as a sophomore and first team all-league as a junior. Selna received nine Division One (DI) offers and will be attending UCLA next fall on a full-ride scholarship.

Selna said he originally committed to Tulane the week before he committed to UCLA, but was still holding out for a Pac-12 offer. The Tulane coaching staff was fully aware of the situation and understood that his commitment to their program was dependent on whether or not he received a Pac-12 offer.

“The Tulane coaches knew that it’s a west coast kid’s dream to play in the Pac-12,” Selna said. “They were super nice and understanding and wanted the best for me.”

While the Pac-12 is more competitive than the American Athletic Conference, Tulane’s conference, Selna said his decision was mostly driven by academics and the allure of playing for his dream school.

“Since I was a little kid, I always wanted to go to Cal or UCLA,” Selna said. “On top of that, my biggest motivation for playing college football was to receive the best education possible, so at the end of the day it was a no-brainer.”

Selna said UCLA had interest in him since his sophomore year. However, during his junior year he did not have the grades or SAT scores to receive an offer. This all changed when Selna was able to improve academically by the end of the year.

“The UCLA coaches called me the day I committed to Tulane and said they really liked my new scores and transcript,” Selna said. “And I was just like, oh crap.”

To those that get to watch Selna work every day, it is no wonder that he will be playing football at UCLA next fall, said first year varsity football head coach Jerome Johnson.

“I had the chance to watch Patch play last year as a spectator,” Johnson said. “I’ve been coaching a long time, almost 27 years, and you know a DI player when you see one. It’s not just about his size, it’s all the small intangibles; his heart on the field, his technique, and his effort.”

Part of what sets Selna apart is his competitive nature, said senior varsity captain co-captain Paul Pappas, who has played with Selna all four years.

“He’s one of the most competitive people I’ve ever met,” Pappas said. “He just wants to win so badly all the time and he’s like that with almost everything in life.”

Selna’s competitive edge lends itself to an incredible work ethic, said former varsity head coach John Trotman. Selna has been extremely committed to his diet, sleeping well, doing extra workouts, and watching film.

“He’s always had the physical capability to do whatever he wants on the football field, Trotman said. “Sometimes when that athletic ability comes so naturally for people, they tend not to want to put the work in and develop, but that’s not the case for Patch.”

In order to lose weight and put on muscle, Selna said he went on the keto diet for three months during his junior year, which is a low-fat, high-carb diet that allowed his body to completely transform. He lost 30 lbs from the end of the fall to the end of the winter.

“It was a huge change physically,” Selna said. “One of my goals was to show off more speed and quickness when I went to recruiting camps the summer before senior year and this allowed me to become a different player.”

While Selna has worked hard on his game, he has had to work just as hard in the classroom, Trotman said.

“He struggled academically his freshman year in school and was behind the eight-ball,” Trotman said. “At that point, you couldn’t really see if he was going to develop into a DI student-athlete. He definitely was at a fork in the road and could have gone either way.”

Selna buckled down his sophomore and junior years and something clicked, allowing his goal of playing DI football to become a reality, Trotman said.

“Patch really changed his future,” Trotman said. “I’m just tremendously proud of him for doing that because a lot of kids will have the physical talent, but they’ll slack off in the classroom.”

History teacher Todd Berry said Selna came into junior year with a new attitude. While he previously went by Patch, a childhood nickname, he wanted to be called Patrick to show his new growth, focus, and maturity.

“From the kid I knew as a sophomore just seeing him in the halls to the student I had as a junior, Patrick changed a ton,” Berry said. “He was engaged academically, worked hard, and made a mental switch.”

The importance of academics cannot be understated in the recruiting process, Selna said. As Selna was getting heavily recruited during his junior year, his grades became more impactful.

“It was such a stressful time because all my grades had so much weight to them,” Selna said. “Any little slip up was a huge deal.”

Furthermore, Selna said many college coaches visited PHS and watched him work out, sometimes unexpectedly. On top of that, he would constantly get phone calls from coaches that would pull him out of class.

“It felt like a constant audition that there’s no preparation for,” Selna said. “You have to constantly perform on and off the field and make good impressions.”

This made Selna’s junior year a very nerve-racking time. Even for successful athletes, the recruiting process inflicts a certain degree of self-doubt, Selna said.

“Some nights I couldn’t sleep because of all the things going through my head,” Selna said.

Football recruitment is based a lot on interacting with college coaches on Twitter, as well as an athlete’s film, Selna said. The football recruitment world is very interconnected and it can be discouraging seeing other athletes receiving offers or announcing their commitments on Twitter.

“Twitter is a great recruiting tool because you can talk to coaches but the downside is you see what’s happening with everyone else’s recruiting,” Selna said. “When you constantly see other people’s successes, you wonder why that isn’t you and it’s frustrating.”

Despite the taxing nature of the recruitment process, Selna said he has learned a lot from it.

“It’s an amazing experience and incredibly gratifying,” Selna said. “It taught me to really focus on myself and never settle.”

As for who UCLA will be getting next year, Trotman said they are getting a natural leader who leads by example on and off the field. Selna is well-respected by his teammates and well-spoken.

“I would always take him with me to go speak to groups of people just because of the way he carries himself,” Trotman said. “He’s just an amazing young man and it was an honor coaching him.”

Selna is a great influence to those around him, Johnson said.

“He’s an awesome person, great human being, and a smart young man,” Johnson said. “He’s nice to others and he’s just a fun guy to be around.”

Selna deserves everything he has gotten, Pappas said.

“The past few years he really had this goal of playing DI football in mind, and he knew that he had the potential but he’d really have to apply himself,” Pappas said. “That’s exactly what he did; he worked harder than anyone else and sacrificed so much to achieve his goal.”