Bates enters the rankings and quite frankly, he should’ve been in for at least a year now as the 6-foot combo guard can get buckets in a variety of ways. He made the choice to transfer to Coolidge, who will let their skilled guards such as Bates play freely, but also maintain some structure within a half court setting. He’s crafty in the open floor, has a bag of counters in isolations to help create space in 1-on-1’s and the confidence to let it fly off the bounce. His new environment should suit him well to showcase the strengths of his offensive skillset while expanding his approach as a playmaker and force him to play with more controlled pace.

10p 1a 1b 3s

-Bates was very effective for this DBC team until an injury sidelined him early in the 2H. Bates continues to prove adept at attacking his man off the bounce as a primary creator but has also improved his feel as an off-ball mover to step into movement 3s from either wing and knocked down two in a row with confidence. Bates quickly turned steals into points or fouls drawn at the other end, almost lost his dribble in a middle ball screen before he threw a beautiful one-handed diagonal dot to a big on the opposite block for an easy score, and has improved his footwork on jumpers both on or off the bounce. His creativity as a ball-handler and scorer in the paint always stands out as a quick smaller guard that uses a balanced center of gravity to size up then beat his matchup off the bounce.

I liked the edge and craft that Bates brought as a scorer this weekend. He brings that playground style of attack with quick, long crossovers and a feel for creating space out on the perimeter to generate his looks. When he makes his way to the cup, he’s able to adjust in the air to avoid shot-blockers while maintaining nice balance with his attempt. Bates did a nice job of adjusting to how the defense guarded him and if they packed the paint on his drives, he didn’t hesitate in kicking it out to the weakside shooter spotting up in the corner. Throughout the day he acted as a zone-buster off the catch whether it came from the wing off nice lifts or in the corner where he made defenders pay for giving him any space on his load-up.

Previous Rank: 71

-Bates continues to remain a hidden gem in the area despite being named Honorable Mention for DCSAA as the lead guard for Cardozo this season (SWW did not field a varsity team, so he is playing his basketball with Cardozo). Bates possesses a lightning quick first step and takes advantage of backwards positioning tactics from defenders that aren’t used to guarding southpaw players, getting to his strong hand quickly off of wide crossovers to get to the paint to create for himself or teammates. Over the course of the season his confidence continued to bloom, as he hit a game-winner and assisted on a few more game-tying baskets throughout the season—displaying the duality that makes him an intriguing scholarship-level prospect in the DMV.

The junior guard from the School Without Walls (Bates is eligible to play for Cardozo due to School Without Walls doesn’t have a team). The flame shooting southpaw was a steady presence all game, as he played within the flow and was very efficient in doing so. His ability to score at all three levels was on display, picking his spots throughout. He used his wiry frame to carve out space as a driver, leveraged his shooting ability to get to his mid-range pull up J, and knocked down the deep 3’s of the dribble, catch and dribble. In the two games he scored 30 points against Friendship Collegiate and 13 points against Takoma Academy.

11p 1r 1s (4/7 FG 3/6 3P) vs Virginia Academy

-Bates is attending School Without Walls but due to the school not fielding a varsity team this season, he is competing with Cardozo this season and looks like he will be a big piece for a team that graduated some key pieces this offseason. Bates will give this team a secondary ballhandler, shooter, and scorer that can play well off of Fox– and he looked good in that role against VAA. Bates hit a C+S 3 in the corner in transition, hit a 3 off the bounce

Tahkari came ready to play this Sunday in front of our scouts and coaches altogether. He was shifty with the ball and created an uncomfortable feel for his matchups all event long. Had a few nice plays in the midrange creating for himself off the dribble in tight spaces. Tahkari has a slight twitch in his dribble that shook off the defender more times then not. Great pullup game and confidence to score the ball against any defender.

322

-Bates played really well throughout the camp to receive third team honors as the head of the snake for his team as an explosive PG. Bates showed his leaping ability early in game 1 when he blocked 3 shots–two of them on bigs– off vert to protect the rim for his team. Bates executed several coast to coast drives with finishes at the rim, turned steals into 2 points at the other end, and delivered passes on-time and on-target with either hand throughout the runs. Think he is one of the quickest and most explosive players in DC public school basketball, should turn some heads this season at a HS that is typically known for its academics.