Four-star Tamar Bates has several schools chasing

OVERLAND PARK, Kans. -- One of the top players in the Midwest, Tamar Bates will head East for his senior season and has a massive list of schools chasing him.

After a monster junior season at Kansas CIty (Kans.) Piper, the 6-foot-5 shooting guard now holds offers from Alabama, Colorado, Creighton, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Northwestern, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Texas, Virginia Tech and other programs. He will play his senior season at Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy. In the meantime, he's been working on his game.

I’ve been focused a lot on my workouts and getting into open runs with college guys," Bates told Rivals.com. "When I do I’m emphasizing my right hand so if there is a scouting report on me I don’t want it to be force him right and he’s iced out, he can’t score. A lot of my trainers, that’s what we emphasize in my workouts along with shooting the ball from three more consistently and deeper to be more like what I would shoot in college or potentially at the next level.”

Bates discussed several of the programs that are recruiting him.

Alabama: “I’m trying to go to a school that wins and develops guys at my position the best. A coach can say we will bring you here and develop you but if they’ve never had a guard that plays like me and is similar to my playing style then they can’t say they can provide that. That’s the biggest thing with Bama, they are starting to do that. Their depth chart is up and down because you don’t know if they will have guys going to the Draft so I’ll just have to see. They are also recruiting a couple of guys that I’m close with in my class.”

Creighton: “I really like their run and gun playing style and they are building something pretty special in Omaha. They’ve already got Denzel Mahoney and Ty-Shon Alexander in this Draft, (Damien) Jefferson will be gone and of course Mitchell Ballock, he’s from here I talk to him all the time. They are in a position of having four guards gone too and will have a need for a freshman to be able to come in and play.”

Iowa State: “They’ve been saying that I’m real similar to Tyrese Haliburton who will be a lottery pick for sure. They have a lot of guard spots opening up. Steve Prohm, he’s trying to build their program back up to where it was when Fred Hoiberg was there.”

Kansas: “They have been turning things up lately. I talk to somebody every week, I mean coach (Norm) Roberts texts me all the time and is letting me know they are watching. They are definitely prioritizing me and want me to be another hometown guy that comes to their school. They’ve got a lot of those guys this year and they just want to make a push to get me to be another one that comes to (Kansas).”

Missouri: “They are actually prioritizing me a lot. They have put me in a group chat with all of the coaches and all of them are active. That’s a good program, they play in the SEC and Cuonzo Martin that’s a great dude. Me and him have a very good relationship. Mizzou, that will probably be one of the places that I do end up taking an official visit to because of the relationship that we’ve all built. My parents, my grandparents, we want to see how it works out with them.”

Northwestern: “They just want me to come and help bring their program back. They are still trying to win more games and get better as a team. Their phrase is “pound the rock”. So coach (Chris) Collins is saying the only way to win game is to get good players so they are trying to get me to them and they are saying that me and Ty Berry could be a good backcourt and me and Ty talk about it. I just have to see how I would fit there so I’m looking real forward to getting on a visit out there.”

Oregon: “Their program really speaks for itself. A lot of people think they get guys because of being a Nike school but a lot more behind them that goes into it. Just the technology they have, keeping guys healthy and all the stuff they have because of Phil Knight. It is a real nice city and a real nice program that is trying to get over the hump and win a national championship. They will have some guys that are going to the Draft and seniors as well.”

Texas: “One thing they have emphasized to me is how they have three guards who will be seniors this upcoming season. So, the 2021 class they will need three or four guards to come in and be ready to play. There are a lot of schools that are in that position and those are the ones that me and my family take a closer look at them because that gives me a better chance to go in and play right away. They really like the way that I play. I talked to coach (Shaka) Smart and he’s the one that offered me and we had a good conversation and they just emphasize the need for guards and wanting me to be one of them.”

Virginia Tech: “Coach (Chester) Frazier, he actually wants to bring me in and market me as a big point guard. He feels a 6-foot-5 point guard looks better to the Draft than a 6-foot-5 shooting guard. I would play both positions, but he wants me to come in and develop me to be his point guard. They play some run and gun and they have a good system.”

While many in the class of 2021 have been scrambling to make decisions, Bates says that there is no rush. There are also some players out there like five-star Hunter Sallis who he has discussed possibly teaming up with in college if it makes sense. Mostly, he's just trying to get a feel for what to do next.

“Nobody has ever gone through a recruiting process like this," said Bates. " It hasn’t been too bad. There is definitely way more phone calls than I thought there would be but that’s nothing that bothers me too much. Zoom calls, they’ve slowed down here lately. When everything first started they were nonstop but now it will be more like one or two a week. It’s not too bad."

“By the time they open it back up I’ll know that I need to visit this school or I need to take an official visit there. My parents say we can go on unofficial visits to more local schools if we need to."