LOGAN, Utah – Utah State head men's basketball coach Ben Jacobson announced the signing of transfer guard AJ Bates on Tuesday. Bates will join the Aggies in 2026-27 as a junior, after beginning his collegiate career with two seasons at Louisiana Tech.

Bates, a 6-foot-3, 200-pound guard, earned honorable mention all-Conference-USA recognition as a sophomore in 2025-26. While helping the Bulldogs to a 20-14 campaign which included a run to the C-USA Tournament championship game, Bates averaged 12.1 points, 2.8 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 1.2 steals in 33.4 minutes per contest. His 5.9 assists per game ranked second in the league and 24th in the NCAA last season, while he posted a 2.46 assist/turnover ratio with 202 assists and 82 turnovers.

Bates was the lone Bulldog player to start all 34 games last season. He scored in double-figures 19 times, including crossing the 20-point threshold six times, and had five or more assists 23 times, including in 14 of the final 16 games of the season. His 202 assists rank sixth-most in a single season in Louisiana Tech program history. He posted three double-doubles, including a 13-point, 15-assist showing against Jacksonville State. Bates went for a season-high 34 points at Liberty. During the team's run to the league tournament title game, he averaged 20.7 points and 6.7 assists across three games, including a school tournament-record 29 points in the quarterfinals against Middle Tennessee State. 

As a freshman in 2024-25, Bates averaged 4.6 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 17.4 minutes per game while making 29 appearances with four starts. 

Bates, a native of Houston, Texas, prepped at Seven Lakes High School in Katy, Texas. There, he led the Spartans to three district titles (2022-24) and two regional appearances (2023-24) while eclipsing 2,000 points during his prep career. Across his career, he averaged 20 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals per game. He was a TABC 6A all-state honoree his senior year and was one of 10 finalists for the Guy V. Lewis award, given to the best player in the greater Houston area. He earned Texas 6A all-region accolades three times, was a four-time first team all-district selection and was the three-time District 19-6A MVP.

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