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Corey Tate Hired As Assistant On Kim Anderson’s Staff

By Ron Davis

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After weeks of reports indicating that Corey Tate would accept an assistant coaching position on the Missouri basketball team, Kim Anderson and the school made it official on Wednesday in a press release:

"“We are excited to have Corey, Nicole, and their children join our Mizzou Basketball family,” Anderson said. “When we set out to add a new assistant coach, we established four criteria.   We wanted a good coach, someone who has had championship-level success. We were looking for a good recruiter in the central part of the country. We were also looking for a teacher, someone strong in player development. And of high importance, we wanted a coach who could do an excellent job of mentoring and developing relationships with our student-athletes.”“In Corey, we found someone who has been successful in all of those areas, and he is a former player who knows the type of program we want to build at Mizzou.”"

Tate fills the void left by former assistant Tim Fuller, who parted ways with Kim Anderson and the university in March. Rick Ray was a viable candidate for Fuller’s position until he accept the head coaching job at Southeastern Missouri State.

Other than Ray, Tate was the one of the few public candidates for the job.

Tate played at Mizzou from 1994-97 under legendary Tiger coach Norm Stewart. He is best known for hitting a game-winning long jumper in the final seconds of a double overtime game against top ranked Kansas in 1997.

He had been the head coach of the Mineral Area College for 11 seasons and totaled over 250 victories. Tate also took his Cardinals to three NJCAA regional titles and six conference championships. Mineral Area was 24-7 this past season under Tate.

Mar 11, 2015; Nashville, TN, USA; Missouri Tigers head coach Kim Anderson looks on from the sidelines during the first half of the first round against South Carolina Gamecocks of the SEC Conference Tournament at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Joshua Lindsey-USA TODAY Sports

Anderson pointed out in the press release that he was looking for someone to recruit at a high level, and he believes Tate can do that. Recruiting in college basketball is a lot easier if someone on the staff has connections, and Tate does to the talent-rich St. Louis area, an area that has been infamous for players leaving the state to play college basketball.

Otto Porter, Bradley Beal, Ben McLemore, David Lee, and Tyler Hansborough are just a couple NBA players that come to mind to go elsewhere than Mizzou.

Tate may be able to turn the tide there as, in addition to being the Mineral Area coach, he coaches the St. Louis Eagles, an AAU powerhouse.

The current Eagle squad consists of three of the top players in Missouri for 2016 in Jayson Tatum, Tyler Cook, and Xavier Sneed. 2017 big man Jeremiah Tilmon from East St. Louis, IL is also a member of the team.

Given the limited amount of scholarships available for the 2016 class (as of right now there are two) Tate will be counted on to bring in at least one of those guys. Tatum already cut Mizzou from his list last month so Tate should be focused on recruiting both Cook and Sneed, as both are viable options for those two scholarships.

Beyond his ability to recruit, Tate being a former MU player may have something to do with why he was chosen. He talked about his passion for the school and his desire to bring Missouri basketball back to prominence:

"“It’s good to be home. Once a Tiger, always a Tiger,” Tate said. “My immediate plan and my entire focus going forward is to help Coach Anderson restore that winning culture I played in during my time at Mizzou.”"

He’s never been an assistant on the Division One level, but Tate brings a lot to the table. He can build the Mizzou brand in St. Louis to get the top-flight prospects from the area, and above all, he wanted this job. Being that this is his alma mater, he’s going to want to build the program the right way.

We won’t know the full effects on Tate’s hire until he starts bringing in his recruits, but this is definitely a step in the right direction for the future of Missouri basketball. There’s been almost nothing but dark news since the season started last November, but this move today tells us that there may be light at the end of the tunnel.

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