U High's Bates-Diop commits to Ohio State
By Randy Kindred |
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University High School's Keita Bates-Diop goes up for a shot over Breese Central's Jacob Timmermann in March in the Class 2A state championship game at Peoria. Bates-Diop, ranked among the top 25 juniors nationally, committed to Ohio State on Sunday, Nov. 18, 2012. (The Pantagraph/CARLOS T. MIRANDA)
NORMAL ? The season opener comes Monday for Keita Bates-Diop, but the University High School basketball star already felt like a winner Sunday morning.
Ohio State coach Thad Matta must have as well.
Bates-Diop, the Pioneers? highly touted 6-foot-7 junior, committed to Matta and the Buckeyes at about 10:30 a.m. Sunday. The smooth guard-forward chose Ohio State from a final list that also included Michigan State, Florida, Michigan, Purdue and Illinois.
?It was the relationship I had with the coaches, how I felt when I went there and the academics,? Bates-Diop said of Ohio State.
?There was a lot of trust between us. We could talk about anything from basketball to what was going on in the world and in life. That?s big.?
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