Three Big 12 programs, including the University of Kansas, made the cut for four-star Class of 2021 guard Tamar Bates on Monday.
The 6-foot-5, 180-pound shooting guard from nearby Piper High trimmed his list to a final seven that included KU, Iowa State and Texas along with Alabama, Creighton, Missouri and Oregon.
Bates, who is ranked No. 83 overall in the 2021 class per Rivals.com, will play his senior season at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.
He currently is ranked one spot ahead of recent KU commitment K.J. Adams, who announced Kansas as his pick on July 31.
The Kansas Class 4A player of the year as a junior, Bates set school records with his 490 total points and a 21.3 points per game average.
He also averaged five rebounds, four assists and two steals per game.
Despite those numbers, Bates recently told Shay Wildeboor of JayhawkSlant.com that he was looking forward to facing a greater challenge his senior season.
“I definitely just wanted to get out and play against the best competition,” Bates said. “I want to get better and do what I can do to best prepare myself for my freshman year of college. It’s hard to simulate the competition, the workouts, and the work you put in at a prep school than I would have had at Piper. I just wanted to go somewhere where the school could help me as much as I could help them. I want to show people that I don’t just play at a high level against where I’m at in Kansas, but that I can play at a high level against anybody in the country.”
https://twitter.com/tbates_11/status/1295414430079938560
