Ottawa BlackJacks Re-Sign Canadian Players Abu Kigab and Tyrrel Tate
The Ottawa BlackJacks of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) announced Friday the re-signing of Canadian Forward Abu Kigab and Canadian Guard Tyrrel Tate for the upcoming 2024 CEBL season.
A six-foot-seven forward from St. Catharines, Ontario, Abu Kigab is set to return to the BlackJacks for his third season in the CEBL. He has also played professionally in Slovakia and in Germany. Currently concluding his 2023-24 campaign with Spišskí Rytieri in Slovakia, Kigab is averaging 19.6 points, 7.4 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 29.1 minutes per game.
Last summer with the BlackJacks, Kigab delivered his best statistical performance on July 9 against Vancouver, scoring a season-high 12 points, grabbing two rebounds, and notching two steals. Kigab tipped off his professional career in the CEBL in 2021 with his hometown team, the Niagara River Lions.
In 2022, Kigab completed a stint with the Toronto Raptors at the NBA 2K23 Summer League. During his second and final game of the tournament, he recorded a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds in a win over the Milwaukee Bucks.
Kigab suited up for the Canadian national team on various occasions. He played seven games with the senior men’s national team and 19 games with the youth national team. He averaged 6.3 points and 2.0 rebounds in six games played during the 2022 FIBA AmeriCup in September 2022 and scored three points at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Americas Qualifiers in February 2023.
Kigab began his collegiate career with the Oregon Ducks where he played for a season and a half before transferring to Boise State in 2019. As a fifth-year player with the Broncos, he started in all 35 games and averaged 14.8 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.3 steals, and 31.5 minutes per game in 2021-22.
Born in Khartoum, Sudan, Kigab moved to St. Catharines at the age of nine and attended Queen Mary Public School and St. Francis Catholic Secondary School in St. Catharines prior to transferring to Prolific Prep Academy in Napa, California.
A six-foot-five guard from Calgary, Alberta, Tyrrel Tate averaged 6.3 points in 20 games played with the BlackJacks during his second season with the team last summer. He recorded a season-high 24 points with six made three-pointers on June 24 against Niagara.
Tate will be competing in his fifth CEBL season, having played with the Bandits during the inaugural year of the league in 2019 and with the Nighthawks during the 2020 CEBL Summer Series in St. Catharines.
Following his second season in Ottawa last summer, Tate has brought his talents to Mexico, suiting up for Rayos de Hermosillo in the CIBACOPA, where he averaged 16.9 points, 2.1 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 26.3 minutes in 15 games played.
The Fayetteville State University alumni spent the 2017-18 campaign with the Cleveland Charge of the NBA G League. In 2014, the Idaho Stampede (the Utah Jazz NBA G League affiliate) selected Tate as a seventh-round pick in the NBA Development League Draft. He played 25 games with the team in his first professional season and made five starts.
Collegiately, Tate played four years for the Fayetteville State Broncos, averaging 15.3 points and 5.2 rebounds in 81 games.
The Ottawa BlackJacks 2024 single game tickets are on sale now at https://www.theblackjacks.ca/single-game-tickets. The team's fifth season will kick off at The Arena at TD Place on May 29, promising professional basketball and exciting entertainment in a family-friendly environment. For more information, please visit www.theblackjacks.ca or contact the Ottawa BlackJacks Membership Services team directly at 613-690-0519 or by email at [email protected].
Quotes:
“I’m extremely excited to be back in Ottawa. My only goal for this summer is to bring home the championship to the Capital! This is the year!”
-Abu Kigab, Forward, Ottawa BlackJacks Basketball Club
“I’m happy to run it back with some familiar faces in Ottawa this summer. The Ottawa BlackJacks is a great organization, and I am excited for the opportunity to play in front of the amazing Ottawa fans once again.”
-Tyrrel Tate, Guard, Ottawa BlackJacks Basketball Club
“Abu and Tyrrel are not only two great players but, above all, outstanding teammates. In a brief season like ours, it's crucial to have individuals who not only excel on the court but also bring the team together. These two bring that energy both on the court and in the locker room. We're happy to have them back in Ottawa this summer."
- James Derouin, General Manager and Head Coach, Ottawa BlackJacks Basketball Clu###
About the Ottawa BlackJacks
The first expansion franchise of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL), the Ottawa BlackJacks showcase the best of basketball and entertainment in the nation’s capital. The Ottawa front office brings NBA, NBA G League, national team, NCAA and major international pro league experience to the franchise. Led by General Manager and Head Coach James Derouin, Ottawa plays its home games out of the world-class Arena at TD Place in Lansdowne Park. The anticipation is building for the upcoming 2024 season, slated to tip off at home on May 29 against the Edmonton Stingers. For more information, visit www.theblackjacks.ca.
About Canadian Elite Basketball League
A league created by Canadians for Canadians with a mission to develop Canadian players, coaches, sports executives, and referees, the CEBL boasts the highest percentage of Canadian players of any pro league in the country with 73% of its 2023 rosters being Canadian. Players bring experience from the NBA, NBA G League, top international pro leagues, the Canadian National team program, and top NCAA programs as well as U SPORTS. Fourteen players have signed NBA contracts following a CEBL season, and numerous CEBL players attend NBA G League training camps every year. The CEBL season runs from May through August. More information about the CEBL is available at CEBL.ca and @cebleague on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook & YouTube.
