Hitting the road to take on Tennessee State will be a family affair for NIU head coach Ricardo Patton and his son, second year guard Michael Patton.

The two will return to their home state to take on the Tigers today at 12:45 p.m.

“The biggest deal is just going home for the first time along with a team,” the coach said. “I have so many friends and family there, and people have already started calling and asking for tickets.”

Patton spent most of his life in Tennessee as a young kid, occasionally getting his hair cut by Oprah Winfrey’s dad, Vernon Winfrey.

“Her father was actually my barber growing up,” Patton said, adding that Oprah is an alum of Tennessee State. “He lived right behind my brother’s house, and that was the barbershop I went to.”

But returning home means more to the second year coach than remembering who his childhood barber was.

“I can assure you that I will not allow anything to become a distraction to our purpose for going there,” the coach said. “And that’s to go there and try to play well and get better.”

His son Michael said the Tennessee match-up has been the game he’s looked forward to the most.

The guard was born in Nashville and still has family in the area.

Along with family ties, Patton was the assistant coach for the Tigers for two years. But now Patton will be on the visitor’s bench.

“It’s a totally new day; none of the guys are around from that era, none of the same coaches are around,” Patton said. “So it’s just a place where I have sat on the home bench. I was there two years and have some fond memories of coaching there, but I don’t know if it will affect me during the game.”

Last year, the Tigers came within one game to making it to the NCAA Tournament but lost in their final conference game to Austin Peay.

The Huskies and the Tigers are contracted to play against one another for the next two years.

After NIU travels this year, the Huskies will host Tennessee State next year in DeKalb.

“We entered into a two-year agreement,” Patton said. “Whether they continue the agreement after that, I don’t know. But we always try to schedule quality opponents.”

The coach said Tennessee State is more than a quality opponent; he said any team that can play within one game of a bid into March Madness is a good opponent to have on the schedule.