NWADG Basketball

7 NORTHWEST ARKANSAS BASKETBALL | 11.22.2020 Save time and money with FirSt national Bank. our dedicated team oF retail BankerS iS here to help you Streamline your BuSineSS operationS. 870.215.4723, ext. 5700 | fnbank.net | roGerS | Bentonville | Fayetteville | SprinGdale | JohnSon Online Banking Merchant Services Direct Deposit Positive Pay him. Our offense flows really good when he's got the ball, because he's naturally and instinctively unselfish." Tate said that when he decided to transfer, his top choices along with Arkansas were Cincinnati, Iowa State and North Carolina State. Cincinnati Coach John Brannen recruited Tate to Northern Kentucky and coached him there for two seasons, but Tate said ultimately he decided Arkansas was his best option. "I wasn't necessarily looking at the SEC," Tate said. "But I definitely wanted to take a little step up from a mid-major and I knew they had the culture here I was looking for." Tate said that when he watched Nevada's run to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16, which included an overtime victory over Cincinnati, he was impressed by how the Wolf Pack played led by three transfers — twins Caleb and Cody Martin and Jordan Caroline. The Martins now both play in the NBA with Charlotte. Jimmy Whitt averaged 14.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists as a senior graduate transfer for Arkansas last season after he transferred from SMU. "Coach Muss harped on how he has had really good success with transfers in the past," Tate said. "That for sure influenced my decision, as well as the facilities obviously." Tate wasn't able to play against Arkansas last season because of a hand injury, but he was on Northern Kentucky's bench when the Razorbacks beat the Norse 66-60 in Walton Arena. "It was a great atmosphere," Tate said. "I'm looking forward to that, being on this side of it." Smith said he's looking forward to playing with Tate and seeing what he can do for the Razorbacks. "Jalen gets players in the right spots, and he doesn't ever really get sped up," Smith said. "He's playing at his own pace. He just makes the right, winning plays." Musselman said his knowledge of the three senior graduate transfers — having played against Jackson and Smith and scouted Tate — made it easier to want to bring them to Arkansas. "When Justin Smith got in the portal — or Vance Jackson or Jalen Tate — I did not have to spend hours watching game tape," Musselman said. "Those hours had already been done. "I had a vision of how those guys could fit in here. I had a strong feeling of characteristics that they would bring to our team." Musselman's familiarity with Smith, Jackson and Tate came in especially handy because of how crowded the transfer portal became so quickly. More than 230 players with immediate eligibility entered the transfer portal after last season, which ended abruptly when conference tournaments, the NCAA Tournament and NIT were canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. "I mean, names were coming like every two minutes," Musselman said. "Sometimes there were 20 names in one section of time. "You just can't watch all of them. But certainly [Jackson, Smith and Tate], we had a really good feel for them as players." Musselman said signing the senior graduate transfers became especially important when Mason Jones and Isaiah Joe both entered the NBA Draft after the junior and sophomore seasons, respectively. Jones averaged 22.0 points last season to lead the SEC and Joe averaged 16.9. "If you want to talk about 18 months ago, we would have thought that Isaiah and Mason would still be part of our program," Musselman said. "Both of those guys coming off averaging around 13 points per game prior to us coming here. We thought maybe one of them might play his way into the draft conversations, but I don't think any of us could have envisioned we would have both those guys in the draft. "So I'm really glad that we went out and got three grad transfers with experience. Now that we can look back, it was vital." Moses Moody, one of four freshmen on Arkansas' roster, said the seniors quickly have taken leadership roles. "They have a lot of experience, and that translates into knowledge," Moody said. "So they're an example that I can follow." Arkansas has 10 newcomers with the senior transfers, freshmen and transfers who redshirted last season. "It's definitely been interesting with so many newcomers," Smith said. "I don't think any of us have really been in this type of situation before, but we've all bonded pretty well. "As seniors, we're able to draw from our experiences at other schools. But this is a new chapter for us at Arkansas."

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