Longhorns Basketball Commit Tamar Bates Requests Release From LOI
The Texas Longhorns may be losing their top recruit from the 2021 signing class, and it is coming as a direct result of the program's loss of former head coach Shaka Smart.
Tamar Bates, who was the lone recruit for the Longhorns in 2020's SI All-American's SI99 Basketball Player Rankings, announced his decision to leave the program via his personal Twitter account on Monday afternoon.
"After a lot of careful consideration and conversation with my family, I have decided to request a release from my letter of intent with the University of Texas Men’s Basketball team," he said in the statement.
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Bates' decision to leave will now make an already difficult job of reloading a decimated program even more challenging for the next Longhorns coach, following the departures of seniors Jericho Sims and Matt Coleman, sophomore Kai Jones, as well as the likely exit of freshman Greg Brown to the NBA.
The 6-foot-4, 175-pound prospect out of IMG Academy in Bradenton Florida was described by SI All-American as an "athletic, southpaw scoring guard who uses his length and quickness to get to his spots on the court", and was the No. 84 overall player in the nation according to the SI99 player rankings.
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"I'm not making any statements or discussing that other than the announcement I put on Twitter," Bates told 247Sports in a report. "I'm locked in on GEICO and focused on winning with my brothers."
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