Utah State has picked up a verbal commitment from Louisiana Tech University point guard AJ Bates. Bates is a 6-foot-3, 200-pound junior who will have two years of eligibility left and join the Aggies for the 2026-27 season.Bates will make his official visit to the Utah State campus next week.
Last season, Bates saw action in 34 games with 34 starts and averaged 12.1 points per game while shooting 37.0% from the field, 27.7% from behind the three-point line, and 78.3% at the free-throw stripe. He also pulled in 2.8 rebounds, handed out 5.9 assists, and swiped 1.2 steals per game.
During his 2-year career with the Bulldogs, Boyd played in 63 games with 38 starts, and averaged 8.6 points per game while shooting 38.4% from the field, 28.7% from behind the three-point line, and 75.1% at the free-throw stripe. He also pulled in 2.4 rebounds, handed out 4.0 assists, and swiped 1.0 steals per game.
Once he entered the transfer portal, Bates received offers/interest from Ohio, Richmond, Temple, Texas A&M, Texas State, UCLA, and UTEP. He originally held offers from George Mason, Lamar, Louisiana Tech, New Mexico State, Sam Houston State, and Texas-Rio Grande.
Bates is the Aggies second transfer portal commitment of the 2026 recruiting cycle and the fourth commitment overall, joining De Smet Jesuit HS (MO) guard Jordan Boyd, Snow JC (UT) center Sean Felts, and Northern Iowa forward Will Hornseth.