Pat Kinnison - Chief Photographer - Pokes Report
Hoops Notes: Boynton and Co. out on Recruiting Trail
STILLWATER -- As Mike Boynton said on Monday night after the loss to Kansas, the search to secure the future of the program with recruiting continues. That search has led the coaching staff to Kansas City and four-star combo guard Tamar Bates.
Bates took to Twitter Wednesday evening to announce the offer.
Bates is a 6-4, 175-pound combo guard out of Piper High School in Kansas City, KS. Rivals and 247Sports both list his as the No. 95 overall prospect in the 2021 class.
Up to this point in his recruiting cycle, Bates has received nine offers: Oklahoma State, Creighton, Kansas State, Missouri, Northwestern, Saint Louis and Wichita State among others.
According to reports, K-State is making Bates a priority, but he's also already taken an official visit to Creighton back in Oct. and it was reported that he was in Lawrence, KS for KU's 'Late Night in the Phog'.
While Piper HS doesn't keep track of stats on MaxPreps, Bates has helped lead the Pirates to a 13-1 overall record this season and helped them to a Kansas 4A state title last season.
With the proximity to Stillwater, Bates is definitely one to keep an eye on moving forward with the 2021 class.
Out on the Road
Mike Boynton also said after the loss to Kansas on Monday night that whether they won or loss that game, that he would be out on the road recruiting the very next day.
Well, throughout the week, coach Boynton made his way up to New Jersey to check out the No. 1 overall prospect in the 2021 class in forward Jonathan Kuminga and top-50 center Adama Sanogo.
Both play for St. Patrick High School in Hillsdale, NJ.
Kuminga is listed at 6-8, 205-pounds and holds over 25 offers, but Oklahoma State has not offered as of yet.
As for Sanogo, he's listed at 6-9, 230-pounds and he also doesn't hold an offer for Oklahoma State. With them not holding an offer, it wasn't a check-in type of trip, more of a get-a-feel type of trip. I'd also be willing to bet that with how Kuminga's recruiting is taking shape with Duke and Texas Tech appearing to be in the lead, the trip was probably more to see how Sanogo played.
Boynton also made his way up to Lincoln, NE to watch the newest 2020 offer Donovan Williams out of North Star.
The Cowboys offered Williams last week and he was in Stillwater this past Monday on an unofficial visit.
Williams was once a Nebraska commit, but decommitted this past fall after getting healthy following tearing his ACL last spring.
As we move throughout the spring, I would fully expect Oklahoma State to be in the mix for Williams.
Bedlam Round One
The first round of Bedlam takes place this weekend in Norman. There's a media availability Thursday evening in GIA with Boynton and a few players, so I'll have an update on that coming up either this evening, or early Friday morning.
