Florida State and Tennessee battling for top-100 CB Cai Bates

Florida State and Tennessee continue to battle for one of the elite defensive backs in the 2024 cycle.

Orlando (Fla.) Edgewater four-star cornerback Cai Bates decommitted from LSU on November 13 after initially pledging to the Tigers back in July. Bates’ decommitment came on the heels of visits to each of Tennessee and Florida State.

On3 Director of Recruiting Chad Simmons broke down Bates’ recruitment on The Inside Scoop football recruiting show.

“You know there’s never a slam dunk, it’s not that easy in recruiting,” Simmons said. “I think Tennessee has definitely been a factor consistently. Even when he did commit to LSU over the summer. He was very close to committing to Tennessee when he made that decision the first time around. So we know communication is strong. He feels good about that culture and those relationships.

“But like you mentioned, FSU has surged over the recent weeks, got him on campus. It’s a battle, I think, right now. Pretty tight at the top between Florida State and Tennessee.”

Recent visits

Bates was on a tentative visitor list for Tennessee’s game this past weekend against top-ranked Georgia, but did not make the trip.

“He did not make that trip to Tennessee,” Simmons said. “Tennessee was working to get him back on campus after he went to Tallahassee for the Miami game, so he was there. Week before that, he was in Knoxville for the UConn game, kind of quietly under the radar when he was still committed to LSU at the time. He got to Knoxville, spent some time on campus there with the staff. He’s been to (Texas) A&M as well, they’re kind of out of the race though obviously, a coaching change there — he was there earlier in the fall.

“But the meaningful visits he’s taken were Florida State for the Miami game, Tennessee for the UConn game. Both those schools, again, are duking it out right now at the top.”

Will Bates take the decision to NSD?

National Signing Day during the early signing period begins on December 20. Many of the nation’s top recruits may take until that day to announce their college decisions. Simmons does not think Bates will be among that group.

“I don’t think he takes it to the 20th, Josh,” Simmons said. “I think there’s a chance he commits end of November — I’m hearing one to two weeks, somewhere in that timeframe. He’ll take the time that he needs to figure things out. I don’t think it happens this week, Thanksgiving week, nothing like that. But I do think he’s fairly close, but at the same time I’m being told by a source that he’s torn. I think before he visited that FSU game for Miami, I think he was leaning pretty heavily toward Tennessee.

“When he took that trip to Tallahassee, you know, things changed. Florida State made a big push that weekend and has kind of remained. I think their confidence has been growing a little bit steadily throughout the last week or two with Cai Bates. So I think, you know, this one has gone back and forth over the last couple of weeks between Tennessee and Florida State. I don’t think he’s quite ready to make that decision or make that call yet, but the confidence probably is a little bit stronger in Tallahassee than Knoxville today.”

Additional visits unlikely

Simmons also does not expect Bates to take any more visits before he announces his decision.

“I lean towards no,” Simmons said. “I think he’s seen what he needs to see — I mean could that happen? Yes. I think there’s some people, obviously in his circle from what I’m hearing, that are pro-Florida State. It’s an in-state school, a little easier to get to from Orlando than it is to Knoxville.

“So could he show up back at Florida State at some point in December, that’s possible. Tennessee as well, that’s a possibility. But right now, I would lean towards he will not take any more visits before he makes that decision.”

Florida State, Tennessee continue to battle

“You know based on what I’m hearing, I would lean slightly towards Florida State,” Simmons said about which school could be in the lead for Bates. “Again, they had the last visit, then decommitted a couple days later after he was in Tallahassee — from LSU. But he was at Tennessee not long before that. So I think FSU, based on intel, the buzz is around the in-state program. There has been some moving parts there — DB CJ Heard decommitted over the weekend — so there are some moving parts about how they want to finalize and finish out that DB class here in 2024.

“But again, he has some big calls I’m told this week to both Tennessee and Florida State. Maybe he has a few questions to ask both staffs. But right now, as we shoot this Josh, I lean slightly toward Florida State.”