Tate’s UA decision pays off with bid
FAYETTEVILLE — Jalen Tate should have completed his college basketball career with Northern Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament a year ago.
Tate, a 6-6 guard, was the Horizon League Tournament MVP for Northern Kentucky last season when the Norse earned the conference’s automatic NCAA Tournament bid.
But two days after Tate had 14 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists in Northern Kentucky’s 71-63 victory over Illinois-Chicago in the Horizon League Tournament championship game in Indianapolis, the NCAA Tournament was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Now Tate is back in Indianapolis to finish his college career in the NCAA Tournament with his new team — the Arkansas Razorbacks.
The No. 10 University of Arkansas (22-6) will play Patriot League champion Colgate (14-1) at 11:45 a.m. Friday in Bankers Life Fieldhouse in a first-round South Region matchup.
Tate joined the Razorbacks as a graduate transfer and has been a key addition for a team that earned a No. 3 NCAA Tournament seed — the highest for Arkansas since a No. 2 seed in 1995.
“Just thankful being able to play this year, man, and being a part of it again after last year, the whole pandemic thing,” Tate said. “I’m definitely excited and extremely grateful and blessed.”
Tate and freshman guard Moses Moody — a first-team All-SEC pick by the coaches and media — are the only two Razorbacks to start all 28 games this season.
“I’m very excited for him to get another chance to compete for a national championship,” Moody said.
Tate was the Horizon League defensive player of the year last season and made the conference’s all-defensive team the previous three years.
“Jalen has been awesome defensively,” Arkansas Coach Eric Musselman said. “He gets the toughest assignment every night.”
Tate is known more for his defense than offense, but he has scored 12 or more points in 14 games this season — including 25 at Vanderbilt, 22 against Texas A&M, and 15 at Tennessee and Kentucky and vs. Georgia.
“He’s had some scoring nights where he’s kind of carried us if we’ve sputtered offensively,” Musselman said.
Tate is averaging 10.4 points, 3.9 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 28.7 minutes. He’s also shooting 49.6% from the field (112 of 226), including 34.3% on three-pointers (23 of 67), and 66.2% (43 of 65) on free throws.
“He’s meant a lot to the team,” Moody said. “Defensively, offensively, he’s able to control the tempo of the game.
“Then just being a leader. He’s one of the older guys, so he’s been in a lot of the situations that us younger guys haven’t. He can talk about it and lead by example. He’s an extension of the coaching staff on the floor.”
Tate is the only Razorback who has NCAA Tournament experience, with Northern Kentucky in 2019. He had 6 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds and 3 steals when No. 3 seed Texas Tech beat the No. 14 seed Norse 72-56 in a firstround West Region game in Tulsa.
“Jalen Tate, he just brings a lot to the table,” Arkansas junior guard Desi Sills said. “He’s one of the best defenders we’ve got. He’s a leader on the team. He’s the voice of the team, and we listen to everything he says because he is the point guard and we follow his lead.”
Having played for a No. 14 seed two years ago, Tate understands the motivation Colgate has against Arkansas.
“We’ve got to treat them as if they’re an SEC team,” Tate said. “Because anything can happen in this tournament.
“We’re definitely not going to take them lightly and will make sure we get focused and do everything we can to get prepared for that game.”
Tate said before the season that when he decided to transfer, his top choices along with Arkansas were Georgetown, North Carolina State, Cincinnati and Iowa State. Georgetown (13-12) earned an automatic NCAA Tournament bid by winning the Big East Tournament as the conference’s No. 8 seed. The Hoyas are a No. 12 seed in the NCAA Tournament and play Colorado on Saturday.
North Carolina State (1310) is playing in the NIT. The season is over for Cincinnati (12-11) and Iowa State (2-22).
“Honestly, people around me, my family members and friends that helped me make my decision, we talk about it all the time,” Tate said of choosing to transfer to Arkansas. “Like, ‘Wow, this worked out pretty well.’
“I’m not going to throw any names out there, but the other teams that we had on my top-five list, they’re not having as hot a season [as Arkansas].
“The way we’ve been able to have the success here, you don’t really worry about anybody else. The success that we’ve been able to have here, you’re grateful that you made the right decision.
“I look back at it, and I wouldn’t change anything at all. Especially with the season that we’ve had, it weighed huge on my decision, playing for a team that definitely can make some noise in the NCAA Tournament.”
The Razorbacks were picked in a preseason media poll to finish sixth in the SEC and weren’t included in some NCAA Tournament bracket projections.
But Tate expressed belief in his new team back in October when practice started.
“I think we can definitely be an NCAA Tournament team,” Tate said then. “And I think we can make a run in the NCAA Tournament, too.
“This team has a lot of talent. We just need some time to put it all together.”
Tate was a big part of the Razorbacks putting together a 12-game winning streak against SEC opponents after a 2-4 start in conference play.
“I think the biggest thing with Jalen is just being a leader in huddles, a leader at halftime, being a leader in pregame,” Musselman said. “The guys look up to him because of the winning mentality he has. He’s a big-time culture guy.”