Class of 2021 hoops prospect Tamar Bates hints at upcoming decision

By Matt Tait     Aug 27, 2020
    •

article image
Kansas University basketball recruiting

Class of 2021 shooting guard Tamar Bates, from nearby Piper High in Kansas City, Kan., sent out a message on social media on Wednesday that teased the potential end of his recruitment.

“Decision coming soon,” Bates wrote on Twitter.

To be thorough, a decision and an announcement are two different things, but the implication, both from the Tweet and those who have analyzed it, is that Bates is ready to make his college choice known.

We don’t know exactly what “soon” means, of course. So it could be this week, by the end of this month or sometime in early September.

We also don’t know which school Bates will pick yet, but there are a couple of different schools of thought on that.

Throughout the past several months, many have pegged Kansas as the likely landing spot for the 6-foot-5, 180-pound four-star talent.

The connection is obvious, given how close Bates grew up to KU’s campus. And his length and skill set fit in nicely with the players KU coach Bill Self and company have added to the roster in recent recruiting classes.

But in the past week, there has been a lot of talk about Bates eyeing Texas as his destination.

Three of Rivals.com’s FutureCast picks that were made this week went to the Longhorns, including two analysts who switched their pick from KU to UT.

Beyond that, over at 247 Sports, Bates’ to Texas is currently at 100% likely in their Crystal Ball predictions.

Anything can still happen, of course, but it seems like we’ll know the outcome sooner rather than later.

Bates, who will finish his prep career at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., this season, is ranked No. 83 overall by Rivals.com and No. 112 nationally by 247 Sports.

He trimmed his list to a top seven 10 days ago, with Alabama, Creighton, Iowa State, Missouri and Oregon joining Kansas and Texas on his list of finalists.

**3:05 p.m. Update**

Looks like “soon” means Friday, Aug. 28. Here’s more from Rivals.com’s Eric Bossi…

PREV POST

3-star S.C. safety James Wright joins Jayhawks' 2021 class
NEXT POST

54896Class of 2021 hoops prospect Tamar Bates hints at upcoming decision
Author Photo

Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.