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Put on your sneakers and grab a bottle of water - because you're going to need them after trying to catch up with Tyler Patch, the 1,000-point scorer and senior at Seekonk High School, who has been on a non-stop, whirlwind summer session of hoopology 401.

Tryouts, tournaments and a lot of time spent getting noticed nationally by some of the Division II and III basketball programs in the nation.

And if you happen to see a Tyler Patch trading card, you know, the baseball card type, that's another one of the marketing tools - besides a game of basketball that has advanced to the "next level," way beyond Arcade Avenue, the Ken Pickering Gymnasium at North Attleboro High School and the South Coast Conference.

"It's been intense and challenging, but fun," said Patch, in between personal tutorial basketball skill sessions with former college coaches, personal training workouts with Koko Fitness CEO Mike Wood, the former University of Connecticut strength and conditioning coach, traveling up and down the Eastern seaboard and finishing off some final book reports before September arrives.

"I am finally getting noticed," said the 6-foot-3, 185-pound Patch, who can play both backcourt spots and small forward. "What my game plan was to one, eat right and gain weight - maybe I will after the summer ends and recommit myself to improve the little things. Things almost started to pay off immediately." As a member of the New England Warriors AAU team, he averaged close to 21 points per game at the Reebok Boston Elite Tournament in June and the scouting services took note, ranking him in the top 100 (No. 31) in New England.

In his first two summer league games at the Mass. Premier courts, Patch hit six trifectas and scored 49 of his teams 61 points against Mansfield. A few days later, he hit five threes and scored 33 against Stoughton, prompting one parent to proclaim, "thank goodness, he's not in the Hockomock League."

The New England Scouting Report, Hoopville.net and Hoop Scoop all have Patch on the radar as well as better than four dozen college coaches, who have been infiltrating the Patch mailbox and computer in North Attleboro.

"In late May I could see that I was playing with more confidence and I started to play better and at a faster pace," said Patch, who in one stretch played 34 games in 21 days and still has the Eastern Invitational Camp in New Jersey this weekend, the Elite 75 Invitational in mid-August, the Five-Star Camp in Pennsylvania a few days later and the New England Top 100 Clinic in early September at Boston University on his calendar.

Patch was the MVP of the Complete Player Basketball School in mid-June, was a first team all-star and MVP finalist at the Stonehill College-hosted Hoop Mountain Camp.

Then in early July came the Reebok Proving Ground Combine at the Mansfield Sportsplex, where in one weekend, Patch made the transformation from being a very good high school player regionally to one who has no boundaries at the state line.

The Warriors - coached by former Duxbury High great and NBA player Bobby Curley - won the team title that weekend, playing six games in two days, while Patch won the free throw shooting contest, hitting 33 of 35 tosses. The top underclassmen from New England, New Jersey, New York and Philadelphia were on hand.

Not only did Patch walk out with three pair of Reebok sneakers, he was recognized as one of the top 25 players among the 100 or so invited.

"That's where my game got rejuvenated," said Patch. "I played well in front of the scouting services. I had played okay in the first 10 or so games of the AAU season, but it wasn't until the Reebok Camp that I realized that I could play at a higher level.

"I did more than hold my own. I shot the ball well, I did a lot of good things. I realized I have a shot at playing at a higher level than Division III (collegiate). I re-dedicated myself and made a plan to see how well I could do. I never really did that before." There was the Providence JamFest, followed by the Naismith Invitational Tournament at Umass-Amherst, where the Warriors, playing in the "bronze (Division II)" bracket reached the finals with Patch hitting six threes and scoring 30 against the top-seeded Western Mass. Hawks.

Then it was off to the Bay State Games, scoring 104 points in five games for the "Coastal" team. And a day later, during yet another summer league game he hit 10 trifectas and scored 43 points against King Philip.

Patch actually had a week off after that and spent the time receiving instruction from Steve Schlaehuber, who has coached at Wheaton and Suffolk and current RIC assistant Matt O'Brien, while also playing in pickup games at Providence College with current and former collegiate hoopsters.

"I went to some consultations with Mr. Wood, who is always reminding me about eating food with a lot of protein and noting sugary," said Patch. "I do a basic 60-90 minute workout, jumping rope, agility stuff. It's been hard to keep my weight up, I've been playing so much. The information and motivation has been simple and great.

"I've become more coachable, more prepared, more organized. I don't waste time when I work out my muself anymore."

During that span, former North Attleboro High hoop great Mike Babul, now an assistant at the University of Texas-El Paso, suggested that Patch place all of his pertinent details (1101 points, a 19.5 point average, 7.4 rebounds, 5.1 assists, 111 steals) on a resume-like card with his picture on it, so he could pass it out to the scouts, the recruiters, the coaches at all the tournaments.

"When I go to these high profile events, I can easily be overlooked," said Patch.. "I had to let them know that I believe enough in myself for them to come watch me play."

Right now Patch is at the College of New Jersey in Ewing, being one of the 600 invited to the Eastern Invitational Camp, a "live recruiting" period by NCAA Division I, II and III schools. "It's basically the final chance to make an impression of sorts," said Patch.

"The reality is you're not to get much attention, much notice playing at Seekonk High and in the SCC. Going into this, I was hoping that one or two coaches would see me. It's a lot of work, a lot of time and you have to be committed.

"After all this, I've gotten more notice than I ever imagined. If you want to play college basketball, it takes more than high school basketball."

PETER GOBIS can be reached at 508-236-0375 or at pgobis@thesunchronicle.com.