Texas basketball is ‘ahead’ in recruitment of 4-Star SG Wesley Yates
This is a really busy time of year for head coach Chris Beard and the Texas basketball coaching staff both in terms of putting in work on the recruiting trail and preparing for the upcoming regular season. Texas has some key visits on the books for this month that will greatly impact how the 2023 recruiting class is ultimately able to form together.
An essential official visitor on the docket for Beard and the Longhorns this month is the highly touted four-star Beaumont United (TX) shooting guard Wesley Yates. The 6-foot-4 and 200-pound shooting guard is set to take his second trip to Austin in as many months on Sep. 17. That Sep. 17 trip will be his official visit with Beard and the Longhorns.
It looked like the original official visit date was set for Sep. 3, on the same weekend as the five-star forward Ron Holland. But Yates is now set for the OV date to Austin on Sep. 17.
This official visit to Austin is also set to come during the weekend following his OV to Baton Rouge with the LSU Tigers, set to take place specifically on Sep. 10.
Texas basketball reportedly leading right now for 4-Star SG Wesley Yates
Texas will be looking to make a big impression with Yates and his camp to strengthen what could be a lead in this recruitment heading into the fall. Beard and the Longhorns already made a big move in Yates’ recruitment when he took his first unofficial visit to Austin in early August.
Some indicators are certainly showing that Texas is trending up right now in the race to land a commitment from Yates.
According to a report from Jamie Shaw of On3 on Sep. 5, Texas could be setting the pace among the top group of schools in the recruitment of Yates at this point of the offseason. Shaw mentions that “as things currently stand, this one feels like Texas is ahead of LSU in Yates’s lead group of two”.
That is also important to note since the Longhorns are getting an official visit with Yates one weekend after he takes his trip to Baton Rouge to see LSU. If Texas and LSU are the last two schools to get visits from Yates, that will be big for Texas to get the final word for the in-person trips before he makes his decision.
Moreover, Beard and the Longhorns have clearly made Yates a top priority among the key targets for the 2023 class this offseason. Beard and new assistant Brandon Chappell are pushing hard for Yates to make him one of the foundational pieces in the Longhorns 2023 class.
Next. 3 breakout candidates for Texas hoops during the 2022-23 season. dark
Yates is one of a handful of important official visitors for Beard and the Longhorns among targets of the 2023 class in the next couple of weekends. On the weekend of Sep. 10, Texas is set to host the likes of the elite five-star Accelerated Schools (CO) center Baye Fall, five-star Donda Academy (CA) point guard AJ Johnson, and four-star Carmichael-Jesuit (CA) shooting guard/wing Andrej Stojakovic on their respective official visits to Austin.