The longest tenured assistant coach in Saint Louis men's basketball history, Corey Tate enters his 11th season with the Billikens in 2026-27.
He was part of a SLU staff that orchestrated one of the finest seasons in Saint Louis basketball history in 2025-26. The Billikens finished 29-6 overall, captured a share of the Atlantic 10 regular-season title and earned the program's first NCAA Championship berth since 2019. Saint Louis advanced to the second round of the NCAA Championship after defeating Georgia in the first round, marking the Billikens' first NCAA Championship victory since 2014.
The 29 victories established a new school record. The Billikens spent multiple weeks in the national rankings and climbed as high as No. 18 nationally while becoming one of the nation's most efficient offensive and defensive teams.
Tate has coached multiple student-athletes to Atlantic 10 postseason honors, highlighted by Robbie Avila's selection as the league's Player of the Year and a first-team All-Conference performer in 2025-26.
Tate was initially hired at SLU in July 2016 by Travis Ford and was retained by Josh Schertz in April 2024. He has recruited and coached some of the top players in school history and helped the Billikens win the 2019 Atlantic 10 Conference Championship.
“In my brief time at SLU, it has become obvious the value that Corey brings to the program,” Schertz said at the time of Tate's hire. “He is a great person, a wonderful connector and a relationship builder. I am excited to have him on board and look forward to working with him to build a championship program here in his hometown of St. Louis.”
“I would like to send my gratitude to Coach Schertz and Chris May for this opportunity,” Tate said at the time of his hire. “Thank you also to the St. Louis community for embracing me like a son. I’m thankful to Coach Travis Ford and all the players and staff members that I’ve had the pleasure to work with here at SLU. I am excited to stay in my hometown and push this Billiken program forward. Let’s get it!”
Tate has been instrumental in the recruitment and development of several of the Billikens’ top players in recent years, many of them with St. Louis ties. Jordan Goodwin, currently in the NBA with the Phoenix Suns, is a 1,000-point scorer and is SLU’s all-time steals leader. Tate worked with Hasahn French, who like Goodwin was a four-year starter, on the way to a career that saw French score more than 1,000 points and set SLU’s all-time blocked shots record. Javonte Perkins was an All-Conference performer, and St. Louisan Yuri Collins set every SLU assists record while developing into one of the top point guards in the nation during his career.
A longtime head coach at Mineral Area College in Park Hills, Mo., Tate came to SLU after serving the 2015-16 season as an assistant coach at his alma mater, Missouri.
Tate spent 11 seasons as head coach at Mineral Area College, helping the Cardinals win three NJCAA Region 16 championships and six conference championships. He was named the conference’s Coach of the Year twice and was named the Region 16 Coach of the Year in 2005-06.
Prior to joining the staff at Missouri in 2015-16, Tate served as head coach of the St. Louis Eagles under-17 Nike EYBL team.
Tate, who prepped at Pattonville High School, grew up just blocks from the SLU campus. After playing one season at Mineral Area, he transferred to Missouri and played three years (1994-97) under head coach Norm Stewart.
