DT Kates taking his time
Defensive tackle Jason Kates out of Harrisburg (Pa.) Bishop McDevitt claims to be wide open in his recruiting as summer winds down. Despite that, the 6-foot-2, 324-pounder has kept in touch with Notre Dame recently.
"I called coach Latina a few days ago and our conversation went well," he said. "He was just checking up on how everything was going for me and how I'm doing. We weren't on the phone that long."
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What does Kates like about the Irish?
"I particularly like the academics, but like everybody else I want to see how they do this year with Charlie Weis and his staff," he said. "I'm going to keep a close eye on them this season to see how they do because you want to go to a program that's doing well."
One school that has come on strong recently for the lineman is Virginia Tech.
"They have been recruiting me really hard with a lot of mail and I've even talked to coach Rogers a couple times too," he said. "I like that they won the ACC championship last year. That's what I really like about Virginia Tech."
Maryland has also jumped into the picture after verbal commitments from teammates Jeremy Ricker and Tucker Baumbach. Kates will check out the Terps sometime this week on an unofficial visit. Penn State is also very high on the lineman's list and he's also interested in Syracuse.
As for official visits and a decision for the Rivals 250 prospect, that appears to be a ways off.
"Most likely I'll take visits after the season, but if I can it'll be whatever works with our schedule and playoffs," he said. "I just don't know when it'll work out yet. I do plan to take all five visits, but I don't know when I'm going to decide."
The No. 11 player in Pennsylvania is looking forward to this season.
"I'm just looking to get back to playing football and not worry much about this recruiting," he said. "I'm focused on winning the state championship because I want to go out strong."
Kates recorded 50 tackles, 10 for loss and six sacks as a junior. The four-star prospect was named second team AAAA all-state, first team all-conference and first team all-district.