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University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's basketball coach Will Wade has granted a walk-on opportunity to K.J. Bates, who was a 6-foot-1 guard at Arlington High School on the eastern side of Memphis.

"I'm very excited to be part of the Mocs family for the next few years," Bates said in a phone interview. "Coach Wade and his staff are very honest. They told me that there is no promise of a scholarship.

"UTC is a great place to earn my degree. The Division II offers I had, I felt that they didn't fit. UTC is somewhere that I can call home."