Irvine’s Tate Wants to Be Roaring Success : Basketball: Anteaters’ 6-foot-4 power forward hopes his trademark bark and aggressive style of play will lead to a winning season.

IRVINE —  The scowl is more appropriate for Saturday Night at the Fights than An Evening at the Pops, but Michael Tate is fast becoming the unlikely favorite of student bands everywhere he goes.

In Norman, Okla., they chant his name when he’s out of the game.

In Tempe, Ariz., they growl just like the UC Irvine junior does every time he snatches a rebound and snarls his customary bark of self-approval.

“I mean that’s how I play, aggressive,” he said, “and other teams’ fans are usually going to get on the most aggressive player.

“But I like the attention. Then, when I get a nice dunk and get fouled, I get to the line and I look up and smile to let them know that I do hear them and that I’m gonna do something about it.”

Those bands played on and laughed last--UC Irvine lost to Oklahoma and Arizona State--but the Anteaters’ new power forward, and the emphasis here is clearly on the word power , is not to be deterred.

At 6 feet 4, Tate is too short to get many rebounds . . . but he does. He leads the Anteaters, averaging nine per game.

“If the guy was three, maybe four inches taller, he’d be a real prospect for pro ball,” said former Irvine standout Wayne Engelstad, who played briefly in the NBA and in Europe. “The guy is so tough, I mean he really battles, even in pick-up games. And he can play. He just isn’t tall enough.”

At 6 feet 4, Tate is too small to defend against guys six inches taller . . . but he does.

“Michael has quickness and power,” Irvine Coach Rod Baker said. “It’s not his fault he’s whatever height he is. He has to use the angles, but when he’s coming from the angles, he’s pretty darn good.”

At 6 feet 4, Tate is too little to intimidate anyone . . . but he does.

While he won’t ever be mistaken for Manute Bol, his biceps could be body-part doubles for Mike Tyson, which may be a reason no opponent ever told him to swallow his trademark rebound roar, a Tim Allen-like animal sound.

“Actually, I’ve never had a player tell me to shut up,” he said, smiling, “and I don’t think I’d take it too lightly if anyone did.”

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You can hear the bellow echoing through an empty Bren Center during practice sometimes, but Tate’s teammates don’t seem to find it the least bit obnoxious.

“That’s just Mike,” senior Khalid Channell said. “It’s just his way of saying, ‘This ball is mine .’

“What I like best about Mike is the way he always gets everybody ready to go, to play games and to practice too. He’s our rah-rah guy. He gets everybody hyped and keeps them focused.”

He also leads by example. Tate is the hardest working man in the Anteater show. Just ask Kevin Simmons, the freshman forward who had to have his teeth wired together after coming up on the wrong end of a Tate elbow during a preseason practice.

“There is never a time when a guy plays too hard in practice,” Baker said. “Kevin has learned some valuable lessons from playing with Michael. Everything that’s happened has made Kevin a better player.

“In that case, (Tate’s elbow) was perfectly placed. Kevin led with his face a little bit and Michael just turned around.”

Baker doesn’t care one way or the other if Tate grunts, or squats and slaps the floor before preparing to play half-court defense. But he loves to see him grab a teammate by the arm and talk sharply a couple of inches from his ear.

“Michael goes up to guys and reminds them how to behave,” Baker said. “It’s, ‘This is the way you need to go about it, not necessarily the way you have been going about it.’

“He doesn’t allow guys to stay within themselves. He makes them come out of themselves. He’s just not willing to allow us to lose.”

So far, his teammates haven’t taken any outward offense.

“If anyone has ever been mad about it, they’ve never said anything to me,” Tate said. “I’ve always done that. It’s my way of giving, I guess.”

Tate gave, and his Fremont High team played in two L.A. City championship games and he was a first-team all-city selection. He gave some more at Ventura College, then the Pirates played for the State title last March and he was named to the all-state honorable-mention team.

The Anteaters (4-3) are entering January with a winning record for the first time in seven years, so Baker hopes the trend is continuing.

Tate also played football--you guessed it, linebacker --and was recruited by a number of schools out of high school. But he “went with his heart,” and stuck with basketball.

He decided to play for the Anteaters because he wanted to “put Irvine on the map.”

Presumably, he wasn’t talking about the Thomas Guide. And while 4-3 is nice by Anteater standards, bringing national recognition to Irvine basketball will be no easy task.

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Tate has never taken much for granted or figured anything of worth came easy. Growing up in South Central L.A. meant always playing on a hard edge.

He hung out with gang members but somehow managed to maintain just enough distance.

“I did some little things here and some little things there,” he said, “but nothing ever really major. I never got into big trouble.

“It seems like it was pretty nice and quiet when I was a little kid, but as I got older, the violence started. Guys were getting shot, this and that.”

By the time he was in junior high school, Tate was tempted to join a gang, but his growing devotion to basketball was his savior.

“I was never really pressured to join, but, yeah, I was tempted,” he said. “Most of the guys in the neighborhood were gangsters. But in junior high, that’s when basketball became really important to me. I just really got into it.”

Even as a youngster, his instincts and athletic prowess served him well.

“I was walking home from school one day, and some guys tried to jump me,” he said. “I had on some red clothes. This guy came over and it was like, ‘What’s up with all that color you got on?’

“He had about 15 guys behind him, too. He tried to take a swing at me and I ducked. Then I hit him in the face and ran.

“There were too many to fight, so I figured it was a good time to use my legs instead of my hands.”

It’s a lesson Tate has carried over to the basketball court. When he dunks, it’s the height of his jump, not the length of his arms that puts him above the rim.

“Michael can score inside against bigger guys as long as we put him in the best position to do what he does best,” Baker said. “He can’t be a post-up guy with his back to a 6-10 guy in a limited area, but if you give him some space, he’s quick enough to get by most people.”

Tate has been getting by often, but the ball hasn’t fallen through the hoop much. He’s averaging eight points and shooting only 37% from the floor and 47% from the free-throw line.

“This is the worst start of a season I’ve ever had since I started playing basketball,” he said. “I’m missing shots that I know in my mind I can make. The only thing I’ve been doing pretty good is defense and rebounding. Defense and rebounding are basically the keys to this game, so as long as I do that, I feel everything else will start coming together.

“Sometimes, it’s very frustrating, though. Nothing falls and it’s like, ‘Man, I’ve been doing all this work for nothing.’ But I’m not going to give up or anything. I’ll keep working to get open and keep shooting and, man, when they start to fall, I feel sorry for the other teams.”

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Tate admits there are times when he fantasizes about being taller, even “just 6-6 or 6-5.”

“Then I start seeing dollar signs,” he said, laughing. “But, hey, I’ve been dealing with this a long time and there ain’t nothing I can do about it.

“In certain cases, it can be an advantage, I can use my quickness to go by a bigger guy. But there are times when I get to the rim and jump stop and then pump fake and pump fake and pump fake and still get my shot blocked.

“That’s when I say, ‘Damn, if I was 6-9 . . .’ ”

Then the wishing stops and the working starts. He fights even harder for the best position, jumps even higher to snare a rebound--and lets everyone within earshot know when he gets one, just in case they weren’t watching.

All of which draws admiration from coaches on both benches and usually the ire of an opposing post man or two. Not surprisingly, Tate has been involved in a couple of shoving/shouting matches this season. And while he might not be quick to back down, he’s no loose cannon, either.

“There have been a number of people who have tried to step in front of Michael in these kinds of situations, but he has never thrown a punch,” Baker said. “That’s never been an issue.

“There’s nothing wrong with the way he plays. I’d sure rather have him on my side.”

Clearly, Tate is more than a mouth that roars.

“The thing is, Michael Tate plays hard,” Baker said, “and the rest of the world is just going to have to deal with the fact that Michael Tate plays hard.”