Former top cornerback prospect Cai Bates to leave FSU, enter transfer portal
Florida State saw its 12th expected transfer portal entry Monday afternoon as redshirt freshman cornerback Cai Bates decided to move on.
Bates came to Florida State as a top-150 prospect and four-star cornerback recruit out of Edgewater High School in Orlando. At the time, he chose Florida State over Tennessee after decommitting from LSU.
According to Rivals out of high school, Bates was the 113th-best player in the 2024 class, the 17th-ranked corner, and the 16th-rated player in Florida.
According to Pro Football Focus, Bates saw action in five games over his two seasons at Florida State. In 2024, he played 30 snaps across the SMU, Notre Dame and Charleston Southern games. The only stat recorded was a single tackle.
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In 2025, Bates played against East Texas A&M and Kent State, also recording only one tackle.
However, he did break into the two-deep behind Jerry Wilson for the last two weeks of the season when it was announced Ja’Bril Rawls would be out for the remainder of the season due to injury.
This news comes only weeks after it was announced that Florida State fired defensive backs coach Patrick Surtain, who recruited Bates to come to Florida State.
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