Arkansas Basketball: Analyzing grad transfer commits for 2020-21 season

Jalen Tate – Northern Kentucky

Two glaring areas of need in Fayetteville coming off of last year’s campaign are size and defense. Tate (13.9 Pts, 5.4 Reb, 3.6 Ast), a 6’6 guard and reigning Defensive POY in the Horizon League fills both immediately. He also finished third in rebounding for the Norse, an area that Musselman clearly focused his transfer recruiting efforts on as the Razorbacks were the worst rebounding team in the SEC a season ago.

The biggest difference Tate has from his two new teammates above is that he came into college basketball without major accolades. What he has done in his three full seasons of college basketball has been nothing short of impressive. Tate improved his numbers in points, rebounds, and steals season after season at Northern Kentucky and has put himself in position to take his game onto a national stage and help the Razorbacks make a run at the SEC.

My gut is telling me that he will be the 6th man because 1) this is the kind of energy guy that approaches the games with a hunger and spark that would be a real help off the bench and 2) the backcourt is a little crowded. However, a 6’6 guard who can defend like Tate could be a real asset in a starting lineup where he’d be charged with guarding the other team’s best player. With the SEC having more All-American candidates than ever going into 2020-21 it could be a good option for Musselman.

Jalen Tate’s 2020-21 Prediction: Backup Guard – 9.5 pts, 6.9 reb, 3.8 ast in 25 minutes per game