Longhorns Country

Longhorns Basketball Commit Tamar Bates Requests Release From LOI

The Texas Longhorns are facing their first roster casualty since the exit of Shaka Smart, with the impending loss of 2021 recruit Tamar bates

Matt Galatzan

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. 

READ MORE: Source: Texas Longhorns ‘Invited’ Shaka Smart To Leave For Marquette

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.

READ MORE: EXCLUSIVE: Texas Engaged In 'Active Pursuit' Of Coach Beard

"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."

CONTINUE READING: Longhorns Coach Hot Board: Could 2 Underdogs Emerge?

Who do you think is the best candidate to replace Smart? Comment and join in on the discussion below!

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Matt Galatzan
MATT GALATZAN

Matt Galatzan is the Managing Editor and Publisher of Texas Longhorns On SI and Texas A&M Aggies On SI and a long-time member of the Football Writer’s Association of America. He graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry in 2014 covering the Dallas Mavericks and SMU Mustangs with 247Sports. He then moved to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of the Longhorns and Aggies sites a year later. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels, including Twitter on @MattGalatzan.

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