I just think it’s more exciting and I think it’s great to be able to stay home and have the support of my family. It’s back-and-forth where you have the chance to score (every possession) while with soccer a goal or two is good. That’s the one thing I like about basketball than soccer. “( Vallée) said she wants to use me as a scorer, be on the wing and ready to drive or shoot. “I think it’s more motivation for myself to try and get to that level. “I don’t think it’s extra pressure,” said Tate, who will play at shooting guard or forward. That was also part of the reason Tate opted for basketball over soccer and the comparisons to Langlois do not seem to faze her. She does have the whole package and she has huge upside.”Īn offensive force at centre forward in soccer, Vallée wants the five-foot-nine Tate to be an offensive catalyst for the Lancers. “I think she can be a big, impactful player for the Lancers for the next four or five years and the fact she waited so long (to make a decision) and flew under the radar is a huge benefit for Windsor. (scholarship) offers for soccer and I thought she was taking that route. “I knew she could play basketball at the next level, but I knew she was leaning towards soccer,” said Sean Culhane, who is head coach of the Knights’ senior girls basketball team. She returned to the soccer pitch in the spring to capture Tier I MVP honours and was again named a first-team all-star while helping the Knights to the gold medal at OFSAA. The Royal Arcanum winner for large schools as WECSSAA’s top female athlete, Tate earned Tier I basketball co-MVP honours and was a first-team all-star in helping Holy Names to the school’s first OFSAA silver medal. “Chantal came up to me just before OFSAA basketball and explained to me what my future could look like and it matched up with the goals I had with soccer, but in basketball.” “Going into my fifth year, I still thought it was soccer until the high school basketball season started and I started enjoying it more and getting back into it,” said the 18-year-old Tate, who turned down NCAA soccer offers to play for Windsor. The fact that Tate will take the floor for the Lancers this fall actually came as surprise to many, who thought the two-sport standout was leaning towards playing soccer at the university level and likely headed to the United States on scholarship.

Being a basketball player like Miah, that’s in her hands, but she certainly has what it takes and she’s learning very fast.”

The way she trains, it makes me think she’s an athlete at the level of Miah. “Miah, at (the same) age, had played a lot more basketball, but it’s in the way they move and Leah can score.

“I’m not the only one that has seen (Tate) play and think she’s like Miah-Marie Langlois,” Vallée said.

Incoming freshmen have never seen