Jae’Sean Tate’s TBT status up in the air after positive COVID-19 test

Just a day after it was announced that former Ohio State guard Keyshawn Woods would miss The Basketball Tournament due to a positive COVID-19 test, Big X took another hit today when it was revealed that Jae’Sean Tate tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this month.

Tate had been training in Houston when he began to notice how sensitive his skin was, along with the loss of smell and taste. On June 13, Tate took a COVID-19 test, which came back positive. Since then, Tate has taken three more COVID-19 tests, all of which came back positive.

The former Buckeye says he feels fine, and his family members and girlfriend, who have been close to him recently, have taken multiple tests with all of those tests coming back negative.

Tate is planning to take another COVID-19 test on Thursday, and if the test comes back negative, he is hoping he’ll be able to play in Big X’s second round game. Big X, the ninth seed in TBT, takes on the Jackson TN Underdogs on July 4th, with the winner moving on to face Red Scare, which is comprised of Dayton alumni.

Since TBT will be under an even bigger spotlight this year with the lack of sports going on due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Tate was hoping that a strong performance could help him gain the attention of some NBA teams. Tate spent last year with the Sydney Kings of the NBL in Australia. The forward averaged 16.4 points per game and 5.8 rebounds per game, as he was named to the All-NBL First Team. Tate and former NBA center Andrew Bogut led the Kings to the NBL finals, where they lost to the Perth Wildcats.

While it’s possible that Tate could still play in TBT, he is going to do what’s best for his teammates and everybody else at the tournament. If Tate isn’t able to return, it leaves guards C.J. Jackson and Andrew Dakich as the only former Buckeyes left on Big X.