UVA’s Tat deals with his limited minutes

By Whitelaw Reid
Charlottesville Daily Progress
Published: February 27, 2008

When Solomon Tat arrived in Charlottesville, the last thing that he expected was to become a cheerleader.

Unfortunately for Tat, that is what he has been reduced to this season.

During Virginia’s recent seven-game losing streak, the sophomore played a total of 20 minutes.

In UVa’s last five games, Tat has played just once. That appearance came during garbage time of the Cavaliers’ 31-point home loss to Clemson on Feb. 7.

While a lot of players would probably be discouraged by the limited playing time, Tat is not.

“I have a real positive attitude toward everything,” said Tat, who is averaging 7.5 minutes this season. “When you look at the team,  at this point we’re playing well. The chemistry is good.

“I’m a little bit frustrated from not playing, but in order for us to win, we have to sacrifice in some areas. That’s what’s happening right now.”

Tat missed the first 11 games of the season as he recovered from offseason sports hernia surgery. In his second game back, he scored a career-high 12 points at Xavier. The performance seemed like it might catapult him into a consistent spot in the rotation.

However, the Nigerian didn’t do much in subsequent games against Duke and Virginia Tech, and Virginia coach Dave Leitao hasn’t played him much since.

“Coach makes the decisions,” said Tat, whose high school coach once proclaimed that he would become the “Ronnie Lott of college basketball.” “If coach doesn’t play me, I don’t look at it as bad thing. He probably has a reason. I just come out ready because I don’t know when I’ll be out there.”

Lately, Leitao has trimmed his rotation to nine players. That has left Tat and big man Jerome Meyinsse, among others, on the outside looking in.

“It’s not like there’s great separation between the nine guys who have played and the guys who haven’t been playing,” said Leitao, whose team plays at Miami on Saturday. “It’s just that I’ve tried to make a conscious effort to continue to put guys back in [the game] regardless of what went on before - just to kind of keep them into it a little bit more mentally.”

Defense is considered Tat’s greatest strength. The 6-foot-5, 223-pounder is one of the team’s best on-the-ball defenders. However, he hasn’t developed enough of an offensive perimeter game to warrant anything more than bit playing time as a wing player.

Tat said he hasn’t given any thought to what parts of his game to work on over the summer.

“If I start focusing on the offseason, it means I’ve given up on this season,” said Tat, who will turn 22 this summer. “I’m still focused on this season and any way I can be a help to the team.”

Tat, who battled visa problems before enrolling at Virginia, told The Daily Progress he has given no thought to transferring and definitely hopes to be back next season.

Somewhat remarkably - given his limited playing time and experience at the college level - Tat has established himself as one of the team leaders. During games, he is one of the most vocal players and can usually be seen encouraging teammates when they come to the bench.

Last season, Leitao referred to Tat - the only married player on the team - as UVa’s “spiritual leader.”

“I want the other guys to learn from me,” Tat said. “Maybe if sometime they don’t get to play, maybe they won’t have a bad attitude toward the team. I just have to show by example. No matter what we’re going through, you have to be able to stick in there.”