Four-star Orlando (Fla.) Edgewater High School standout cornerback Cai Bates was the first prospect to check out from their Tennessee official visit this weekend. The four-star cornerback made his way back to Rocky Top to learn more about Tennessee’s program and build on his relationship with Willie Martinez, Tim Banks and Josh Heupel. He detailed the multi-day visit with Volquest.

“I liked it a lot,” Bates said. “I spent a lot of time with the family. I spent a lot of time with the players just seeing how they interact with each other. I spent a lot of fine with coach Heupel. I was actually out on the Tennessee river with him. He is a really cool dude. Just getting a real feel for the program. Just felt really genuine.”

Bated also loved hanging out with Martinez and Banks.

“(Martinez) keeps it real and he is really great at development,” Bates said. “He shows you his proof. He shows you what he has done and developed. He isn’t giving you a recruiting speech. He is just keeping it real.”

Bates will visit LSU next weekend and work towards a decision after that. Being around the current commits was pretty enticing.

“It was heavy,” Bates said. “We actually have a group chat now. Everyone was like join us. You are the last piece so it was big and influencing me a lot.”

You can view Volquest’s full video interview with Bates below:

Bates has been busy in the month of June, as he has already taken official visits to Alabama and Florida State, while also making time to squeeze in a multi-day unofficial visit to Ohio State. He will end the month with an official visit to LSU next weekend. 

Bates, a consensus four-star prospect, is rated as the 191st overall prospect and 27th best cornerback in the class, according to the On3 Rankings. The On3 Industry rankings rank the 6-1.5, 177-pound cornerback as the 111th overall prospect and 16th-best cornerback in the 2024 class. 

About the On3 Industry Ratings

The On3 Industry Ranking is a proprietary algorithm that compiles ratings and rankings from all four primary recruiting media services. The On3 Industry Ranking is the industry’s most advanced, complete and unbiased measurement. 

The On3 Industry Ranking weights the primary recruiting media services based on past performance data, and overall scouting and recruiting coverage investment. 

For football, the algorithm is weighted as follows: On3 (35%), 247Sports (35%), Rivals.com (20%) and ESPN (10%). 

For basketball, the algorithm equally weights On3, 247Sports, Rivals.com and ESPN at 25%

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