It wasn’t until the very end, when Buzzer voiced for eternity to seal a two-point Arkansas win over Texas Tech, that Razorbacks guard Jalan Tate could feel safe that his team advanced to NCAA Tourist Sweet 16 Had happened.
So it took only three men to make four attempts over a period of 22 years, for a man from the Tate family to get deep into March Madness. Jermaine was not found there with the Cincinnati Bearcats in 1999 or 2000, although both times the Bearcats were high seed. His eldest son, Jaycean, was shot one in 2018, but his Ohio State Buckeyes lost a tough second-round fight. Youngest son Jalan will go where no Tate man has gone before.
However: Jermaine’s daughter Jada, Jn Sean and Jalan’s sister, scored 12 points in a narrow win earlier this month that advanced Tiffin College of Ohio to the Second Division Sweet 16.
“In fact, Jada has had bragging rights for some time,” Jalan told Sporting News with a wide smile. “We give all support, all credit to Jada. We are definitely running after him.
“But I’m not done yet.”
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Actually. Elite eight and the final four beckon for the Razorks, though they must win a Sweet 16 game against Oral Roberts at 7:25 pm Saturday and then defeat the winner between Baylor and Villanova to win the NCAI South Region.
And it can be said that the universe has given the Tate family a Final Four after Jermaine’s incident with the Berkats in the 1999–2000 season.
With Jermaine as the team’s starting center, a defensive wizard averaging 1.1 blocks and 4.6 rebounds in 24 minutes in a game, Cincinnati entered the college basketball postseason 21 years ago with a 28-2 record and No. 1 ranking. Then, Jermaine’s front-court partner of the year, Unanimous National Player of the Year, Kenyon Martin broke his leg on a routine play and had a college career. After a second-round NCAA tournament loss to Tulsa 10 days later, so did Jermaine.
A chance for Jae’Sean in NCAA tournament glory came in 2018, when Chris Holtmann took over the Buckeyes program and a 1-2 punch from Tate and Keita Bates-Dip made Ohio State a successful 259-9 season. But the exit of an opening Big Ten tournament seeded the No. 5 NCAA tournament and that meant a No. 4 seed with Gonzaga in the second round. The Buckeyes recovered from a halftime deficit but fell 90–84.
Jalwa’s first shot in March was blocked by COVID-19. At Northern Kentucky, he was the MVP of the Horizon League tournament as Norse won the league’s automatic NCAA bid in March 2020, two days after one of the final conference tournaments to be completed before all of college closed.
This is his moment, and his father feels it deeply.
“It’s crazy, because I mentioned it to my daughter the other day: Wow, you and Jalen have gotten to Sweet 16, and neither of us had ever done that,” Jermaine told SN. “They’ve accomplished everything different that I haven’t. A younger daughter of mine, Joclin, is going to Bowling Green next year, and all three of them won the state championship; not Jalan. And now she made it to the Sweet 16 Is. So it tramples almost everything. That Sweet 16 is a whole ‘no ball’.
As might be expected from two brothers playing the same game a few years ago, Jae’Sean and Jalen were highly competitive, but they are very different players. Jae’Sean is made like a linebacker outside the NFL and has confused experts at every level of the game. He was made as a key scorer in the history of the Mid-American Conference, an underscore power forward who would physically overwhelm a succession of 6-8 centers in that league. Instead, he went to the Big Ten and became a four-year starter and top-20 career scorer at Ohio State.
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He has fought his battles in the NBA, as well as stops in Belgium and Australia. He has become a starter for the Houston Rockets and averages 10.4 points and 5.3 rebounds.
“I actually talked to my brother last night and did it to make sure: ‘Did you make it to the Sweet 16?”, Jalen told SN. “After those bragging to my brother and my father, I like to do something so far as the success of my college.
“My brother has denied him, as far as being in the NBA.”
Jalan adopted a mid-major route to sign to play for John Brannon in central Kentucky, but was red-shirted in his freshman year due to a hand injury when the Norse reached the NCAA Tournament and lost to Kentucky. He clung around Bran after leaving for Cincinnati and enjoyed his season playing for Darin Horn and winning that Horizon Championship, but had the opportunity to move last spring as a transfer to Georgetown, Gonzaga , Minnesota and brought opportunities in his father and brother’s Alma Matters, Cincinnati and Ohio State. He chose Arkansas and coach Eric Musselman.
This has been an ideal choice. With Jalen Smith (Indiana) and JD Nota (Jacksonville) and newcomers to replace Moses Moody and Jaylin Williams, Jalen has been part of the Tate Razorks program’s extreme makeover. While last year’s Hogs guard Mason Jones had a fire-at-will-3 team with 194 and Isaiah Joe’s effort of 275, no one tried 170 on this squad. These Razorbacks play a faster style that relies more on the nation’s No. 10 defense.
Jalen has fit squarely into the Arkansas operation, bringing a thoughtful, calm presence to the attack and his intelligence and length to the defensive end. He was a key part of the D, winning the nation’s leading scorer, Oral Roberts guard Max Abamas, by 11 points, as well as his 24.5 average – by Arkansas 87-76 in a December non-conference game.
“He said he was very capable of pulling above the limit, and we worked on that a lot.” “I think we were a little soft on his pick-and-roll coverage when I look at the film now. We definitely have to keep pace with him, especially when he has a high ball screen and (Kevin) Abanor – Just keep them under control and be able to do push ups through the screen as much as we can.
“If we can do that, I think we might have a good chance of slowing them down.”
As anyone could be influenced by that reaction, Jalan’s future could lead him to coaching, after his playing career ends. Jermaine played 10 seasons abroad, in so many countries that it’s hard to miss a single moment. He was in Venezuela, Argentina, Turkey and Croatia. He played from year to year in the first half-dozen years, moving from one place to another depending on the weather of the country. His final three years were played in Japan.
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This kept him away from his family, but not so much that he was not around to train each of his children as a basketball player.
“I was definitely strict on them,” Jermaine said. “I had to keep pace with the girls. I realized that they did not respond in the same way. I don’t know if it was because they saw how harsh I was on the boys.
He said, ‘It will be like any other coach. You have to treat everyone differently. In terms of Jae’Sean and Jalen, I could get a lot more on them, but I had to do it a bit differently with Jalan. But at the same time, I had to do less teaching with him. People always say: what does he do well? And I say: He is a brain. he knows everything. You can draw something. He will meet, and he can take it further. It has always been like this. “
Jermaine heads to Indianapolis from Interstate 70 for the first two matches of the Razorbacks and plans for the Oral Roberts matchup to take place this weekend and what could happen next. He was able to watch some games in Arkansas in person, but missed the SEC tournament as he was in the Tiffin in the Jiff’s Sweet 16 game.
It is the kind of joy that only a parent can know, and a reminder of what happened to close their own college career at the same time.
“I definitely think about it, think how cool it is going to be,” Jermaine said. “That’s just how stuff happens, and that’s what I try to explain to Jaylen.
“You see these seeds falling, you know you’ve got COVID – it’s always stuff that jumps out there that affects the route, and you want to keep it at the end. It happened, it happened. And it happened and it was for you to win. And just enjoy the ride. Because it’s going to be with me forever. So you have to appreciate it and enjoy it. “
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