Rivals150 center Manny Bates' list continues to grow
One of the top performers at the Under Armour Association Finals was Team Felton’s Manny Bates. He recently jumped into the 2018 Rivals150 after his play during the past few months, and he only built on that this weekend. The 6-foot-10 center dunks everything around the rim and brings a whole lot of energy to both ends of the court.
Louisville joined in chasing Bates with a scholarship offer and he’s also heard from UCLA, Temple, Xavier and LSU since the recruiting period started. Clemson, DePaul, Georgia, Georgia Tech, NC State and Purdue had been involved prior to this past week. He visited Clemson, Georgia and NC State recently.
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IN HIS OWN WORDS
Clemson: “It was really nice. It wasn’t what I expected. When we were driving there, it was nothing but woods and then we get there and it opened up out of nowhere. It was really nice. I have a pretty good relationship with their staff.”
Georgia: “Georgia’s campus was beautiful. I’ve been talking to their coaching staff for a while now. They said they really want me and they said I can come in and play right away.”
Georgia Tech: “That’s a good program as well. Josh Pastner, he’s building up that program. I’m interested in them.”
Louisville: “They want to build a relationship with me and they want to get me to campus for a visit.”
NC State: “Their new coaching staff is great. I have a pretty good relationship with them so far. They have a beautiful campus.”
WHAT’S NEXT?
Bates said he’ll let the rest of July play out before he starts to cut down his list and set official visits. He’s planning to take some official visits during August and September in hopes of having a decision made before his senior season starts.
RIVALS’ REACTION
NC State's Kevin Keatts has made a strong impression on the North Carolina native early on and made sure to be seen watching Bates this weekend. The offer from Louisville will certainly shake things up for Bates as Louisville has had a lot of success with bigs like him in the past. It will be interesting to see if any other schools jump in the mix the next few weeks.