Player Profile: Myles Tate

Background

The first player profile for the upcoming season is on Myles Tate, a six-foot junior who will be returning for his first full season since tearing his ACL late in his Freshman year. Myles has shown great flashes in the open court during his time in Indianapolis and I expect him to grow as a scorer and provide the spark off the bench that the Dawgs have missed out on since his injury. As a freshman, he averaged nearly seven points to go along with a steal and two rebounds per contest. Tates' speed and playmaking ability in the open court are two things I am very excited to see in a much more open offense under Coach Matta. The stagnant and slow offense didn't play into his elite open-court skills so I am excited to see him surprise some Butler fans with high-energy plays this season. 

European Tour 

Myles was extremely impressive on the European tour as he scored double digits in two of the four games while dishing out multiple assists in each game as well. The thing that stood out the most was his ability to attack bigs and finish at the rim which we grew accustomed to seeing during his Freshman campaign. With so much depth at the guard position, I think he has a chance to distinguish himself as a leader in a downhill offense especially if he can improve on his shooting. Facilitating the offense will be a top priority if he is leading the second unit like we saw in Europe but if he develops a consistent three-point shot the opposing defense will be forced to expand and will open up opportunities to attack the lane. 

Expected Role

My expectation is for Myles to lead the bench unit throughout the year because of his ability to distribute and defend at an elite level. Coming off the bench is simply because it fills an important hole that the Dawgs have been missing in recent years. A true alpha leader off the bench will take pressure off of Eric Hunter Jr who is expected to run point for the starting unit. Personally, I want to see our second unit run a fast-paced offense to keep pressure high on the opposition. Ideally, this "Speed" unit would consist of Pierce Thomas and Myles Tate at the guard positions which would be guaranteed to provide highlight real plays every game. 

Projected Statistics

Pts- 9.5 

Ast- 3.6 

Stl- 1.5 

Fg%- 41% 

3pt%- 34%