Grad Transfer Jalen Tate Pick Arkansas

Jalen Tate picked Arkansas on Friday afternoon as his destination for final season of college basketball. He had a long list of schools that contacted him once he entered the transfer portal like Ole Miss, Virginia Tech, Penn State, Xavier, and Cincinnati. Tate joins Vance Jackson as the 2^nd graduate transfer to join Arkansas this month.

Tate is a 3 year starter for Northern Kentucky. He averaged 13.9 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.9 steals per game this season. After watching some game tape, Tate is a slashing guard. I see Musselman using Tate in the same role Jimmy Whitt played. Tate is not a 3 point shooter, but shot 55.6% from 2 last year and is a plus defender. He earned Horizon All-Defense twice, Horizon Defensive Player of the Year, and 2020 Horizon Tournament MVP.

There are still plenty of questions surrounding the Arkansas roster. Technically, Arkansas is over the limit on scholarship players by 1, but Mason Jones is testing the NBA draft waters. All signs point to him keeping his name in the draft.

Time will tell what Isaiah Joe decides to do. With the current state of college basketball, we could still see another departure via transfer as well.

Jalen Tate’s career stats: 10.2 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.4 steals per game on 50.1 FG% and 27.7 3P%.