Ever since he came to Northwestern five years ago, Scott Jantz has been playing pickup basketball at Patten Gym about twice a week.

The 5-foot-9 Jantz, a McCormick senior, has seen his share of players come and go on the court that hosted the very first NCAA tournament Final Four.

But this spring, Jantz and the group he usually plays with have seen some much taller, more muscular guys step onto the Patten courts.

When freshmen Brody Deren and Adam Robinson chose to leave the NU men’s basketball team this spring, they lost the privilege of fine-tuning their games on the polished hardwood of Welsh-Ryan Arena. So Deren and Robinson decided to join former Wildcat Aron Molnar and prey on the students playing pickup ball at Patten.

“I know I can keep in shape playing there,” Deren said. “The competition is a step down, but when you play playground ball you can shoot whenever you want. I just work on my game and try to catch a lob or two.”

These days Deren, Robinson and Molnar can be seen at least twice a week at Patten. But the chance to take the court against these former NU varsity players has not caused a mass exodus to the courts.

David Newman and Steve Lepore, who quit the team at the end of March, opt to play at SPAC. They lift, shoot around, but try to avoid the pickup games.

After witnessing a 5-25 season, NU fans could be heard griping about a Robinson bobble or a Deren airball. Yet not many students have dared to step into the land of the giants when the 6-foot-7 Deren, the 6-foot-10 Robinson and the 6-foot-11 Molnar take the floor at Patten.

In fact, it’s usually the same guys playing all the time, Deren said.

Five of the regulars at Patten are on the NU men’s club basketball team. The rest range from tall, athletic guys who can take it to the hole to short, slower guys who are just trying to get in shape.

But none of them has the size to match up against any of the big three — not even close.

And none of the regulars is anywhere near perfecting a windmill jam, something Deren frequently works on.

“We’re so much taller and bigger than the other guys, it makes it a lot easier,” Robinson said.

Still, one regular said that as long as there’s a former varsity player on each team, the games usually don’t get too out of hand.

“We’ve played a couple of times where two of them have just off-set each other,” said Weinberg sophomore Andy Stone, the club team’s president. “But when only one team has a (varsity player) on it, that team definitely has an advantage.”

Stone and the others readily admit that games such as these can quickly turn into a series of highlight reels.

“Those guys require at least two or three normal-size individuals to guard them,” said Weinberg senior Ken Sundaresan.

In some of Monday’s early games, Deren made plays that would’ve made basketball coach Kevin O’Neill smile.

In one contest Deren made at least five shots, including a three-pointer. He also dominated the boards and flushed a two-handed jam.

Monday’s later action saw Robinson actually catch — rather than block — a shot, while Molnar had a few two-handed dunks of his own.

“Just today I saw five or six pins up against the backboard,” Sundaresan said. “I’ve had my fair share of facials.”

And when Deren or Robinson lost and were waiting to get back into the action — which didn’t happen often — they spent their time punishing the rim with practice jams.

Although the former varsity players have only been showing up at Patten this quarter, most of the other players have some story from one game or another to tell.

“Brody came at me one time and I decided not to take the charge,” Stone said. “He went right over me and jammed it.”

Said Jantz: “Yeah, they do a lot of dunking. It gives me something to look at.”

Another player said he usually would win only one or two games a day until he played with Deren last week. His team went undefeated.

Even Deren had a favorite moment from his short time playing pickup ball at Patten.

“About a week ago this dude I was playing with threw me a lob from halfcourt,” Deren said. “He thought it was way too high so he said, ‘My bad.’ But I caught it above the square and threw it down.”

That’s one move Jantz and his friends are still working on.