On Tuesday, Liberty picked up a commitment from Creighton transfer Zander Yates. With his addition, the Flames have filled all of their scholarships for the 2023-24 men’s basketball season pending any additional changes.
Yates is a 6’7″, 225 pound forward who played in 11 games for the Bluejays this past season, his redshirt-freshman campaign. He was 5 of 15 shooting from the field and 4 of 11 from three in his limited minutes. After arriving at Creighton as a preferred walk-on, Yates redshirted his true freshman season during the 2021-22 campaign. He has three years of eligibility remaining.
Yates attended Houston High School in Germontown, Tennessee where he led his team to a Class 3A state title and 21-3 overall record. He averaged 9.7 points and 6.7 rebounds during the state tournament run. He was high school teammates with Creighton teammate Mason Miller as well as Jerrell Colbert (LSU) and Johnathan Lawson (Memphis). He was coached by former NBA three-point specialist Mike Miller. Out of high school, Yates also received recruiting interest from Central Michigan, UT Martin, and Jacksonville before committing to Creighton in May of 2021.
Zander’s dad, Jon Yates played his basketball at Liberty from 1989-91. Zander is a forward that can stretch the floor and provide three-point shooting for the Flames.
With Yates’ addition, Liberty will welcome several newcomers to the team’s roster in 2023-24, the first for the program in Conference USA. The Flames have previously received a commitment from Bowling Green transfer Kaden Metheny and Jaylen Davis while Curtis Blair and Kai Yu have already signed with Liberty.
The most electrifying 9 points in history!
Come for the @zanderyates_ 3s, stay for @TrickyTrey23 screaming 😂😂 #RDJ pic.twitter.com/MELQUs2g8C— Andrew Grieve (@AGrieve715) January 26, 2023
❤️🔥 pic.twitter.com/p6GpKz94RK
— Zander Yates (@zanderyates_) April 18, 2023