Jae’Sean Tate is a multidimensional combo forward from Pickerington Central High School in Ohio who has been receiving plenty of attention from Michigan as of late. The athletic wing made the trip to Ann Arbor on Friday to check out the campus and left with an offer from the Wolverines. UMHoops caught up with him to talk about what he thought of the coaches, who he played with at open gym, and much more.
What did you think of the visit?
They’ve got a fantastic campus. Everything’s new or just now getting rebuilt, and they have a lot of stuff I haven’t seen before at any other college visit I’ve been to. I had a really, really fun time. I love the coaches, I love the players, I know most of them and got to know a couple of them. We just had a blast.
What exactly did you do?
They showed me the new buildings and where I would stay. We talked about academics and then we came back and actually I played some open gym with the players.
Who were you playing with?
Actually, the whole team was there. A couple of recruits were there from the 2013 class. (Derrick Walton and Zak Irvin)
Did you meet with the whole coaching staff?
Yup. I met everybody from the physical trainer to the head coach, coach Beilein. I met everybody.
How did the staff extend the offer to you?
After the visit, the tour of the campus, and after I got to play open gym for a couple hours, they took me and my family and my high school coach in a room and Caris was also there. They started talking to me and they told me coach Beilein has a kind of a checklist he goes through before he gives out offers. He just went down the list and told me what I had and what he liked and at the end he just told me that he would like to offer me a scholarship.
How would you compare the Michigan visit with others you’ve taken?
I love their approach to the players and the families. I really feel like coach Beilein and my parents were on a first-name basis. I like that they’re friendly and that they like to get to know the family as well as me. Some coaches just show me around and that’s it.
Why would you want to play for Michigan?
Coach Beilein is a great guy and everything he said to me I believed in 100 percent. I like that he plays ten players and he plays the best players. At some colleges, maybe you wait your turn or you have to do a certain thing. I liked that he showed me, if I were to come there, what he’d have me doing and where I would be playing. I really liked that. It was something I really liked because he’s going to play me to my strengths and help me get to a 2-3 and a 4.
Do you have a timetable for when you want to make a decision?
Right now I’m just getting home and me and my parents have talked about it but we haven’t really talked about it. As of right now, it’s going to be a surprise when I commit just like it’ll be a surprise to you.
Any other visits planned?
I think Michigan is the last one for a while. Maybe Xavier, but I don’t think we have that scheduled. So Michigan looks like the last one before school starts.
