Rivals pegs 4-star 2021 guard Tamar Bates as ‘must-get’ prospect for Kansas

By Matt Tait     Jun 17, 2020

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Kansas University basketball recruiting

While Monday marked a big recruiting day for prospects in the class of 2022, the Kansas basketball coaching staff continues to focus its efforts on players in the class of 2021, as well.

It remains to be seen how many players will be in KU’s 2021 signing class, but Rivals.com analyst Eric Bossi believes that Tamar Bates needs to be one of them.

Bossi recently published a list of the must-get prospects for the top 12 teams in the country heading into the 2020 offseason, and Bates was the entry for the Jayhawks at No. 6.

A 6-foot-5 shooting guard from nearby Piper High who is a four-star prospect ranked No. 85 by Rivals.com, [Bates is headed to IMG Academy for his senior season.][1]

The biggest reason Bossi believes he’s a must-get for Bill Self and the Jayhawks goes beyond the fact that he grew up so close to KU’s campus.

“Bates is a great fit for the Jayhawks,” Bossi wrote. “They’ve done really well developing highly ranked — but not too highly ranked — players like Devonte’ Graham, Frank Mason and Marcus Garrett in the past and Bates shares traits with many of them.”

Bossi said Bates reminds him most of Garrett because of his size and versatility.

“Now pushing 6-foot-5, Bates can score and play anywhere from point guard to small forward in Bill Self’s offense,” Bossi wrote.

KU currently has just one commitment in the 2021 class, from 6-10 forward Zach Clemence out of Pleasanton, Texas.

With Mitch Lightfoot and Marcus Garrett slated to exhaust their eligibility and the potential for one or two of KU’s underclassmen to decide to leave early after the 2020-21 season, KU could have room for as many as four players in the 2021 class.

There’s a long way to go before we get to that point, of course, and part of the equation will include how Bates fares against better competition at IMG.

KU is far from the only program targeting the talented guard. The Rivals.com database lists Bates with 15 offers, and Bossi identified Alabama, Colorado, Creighton, Kansas State, Iowa State, Missouri, Oklahoma and Oregon as KU’s biggest competitors for Bates’ signature.

[1]: http://www2.kusports.com/weblogs/tale-tait/2020/may/5/local-class-of-2021-prospect-and-ku-targ/

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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.