Florida athlete gets in-depth look at Maryland during two-day visit

The staff welcomed several targets from the Sunshine state last week with visits steadily rolling in College Park.

For three-star athlete Cai Bates, the trip to College Park marked a notable visit in his recruitment with a two-day unofficial giving him a full picture of the program. “I just feel like I have a really good connection with the coaching staff as well just them being from Florida as well,” Bates told IBG. “I met a lot of them, coach [James Thomas], coach [Henry] Baker. I met Smoke [Dixon], me and him hung out for a bit, talked and got to know each other.”

With outside linebacker coach James Thomas leading his recruitment and giving the Terps ammo considering he played with Bates’ head coach back in high school, Bates got an in-depth look at his fit in the program. “Spent a lot of time in meetings with the coaches. I wanted to spend a lot of time there so I decided to spend two days so I can get a lot more done, get in meetings, watch film with the staff. Just get a full picture of things.”

Bates pointed to his sit down with cornerback coach Henry Baker with Maryland among the long list of schools recruiting him as a defensive back. “We spent a lot of one-on-one time. We watched a lot of my film, of their film going over things like that. Watching film on the two guys going in the first round. We went back and watched them their freshmen year to their last year so we talked about how they can develop me like that.”

Maryland’s pair of cornerbacks in the 2023 NFL Draft doesn’t hurt their chances in Bates’ eyes, either, with a chance to send a cornerback in the first round next month. “I knew that before just watching, so that kind of sparked my interest with what they produce with their [defensive backs]. That’s the position I’ll play in college so I made it a priority to get out there.”

In a week where he visited Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisville and Vanderbilt among others on a bus tour, Bates walked away with a strong impression of the program. “Definitely had a good feeling about the program after leaving there. That was my first time there, my first time in the DMV so I had a good feeling about it leaving.”

What comes next remains fluid, though, with more unofficial visits in mind. “I might want to take some more unofficial visits to some SEC schools to get my head in it first then see how it goes.” After Bates saw his recruitment skyrocket this offseason, the 6-foot-2, 165-pound athlete is taking it slow before he dives into his five officials. While Maryland is in the mix for one, Bates knows he’ll be back in College Park.

“I’m definitely getting back up there again.”

Bates is rated a three-star prospect and an 86 overall by On3.

Four-star target: “if I had to make a decision today, I’d go to Maryland” (+)

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VIP: setting the stage for another busy offseason for Maryland basketball (+)