ASU Football: Sun Devils land three-star defensive end Jalen Bates

The Arizona State Sun Devils have picked up a commitment from defensive end Jalen Bates, out of Kaplan, Louisiana. Bates confirmed the news Tuesday morning on Twitter.

Thank you so much to all the schools who've recruited but im committed to Arizona State University #forksup pic.twitter.com/fuiT2w5Nzk

— Jalen Bates (@KINNG_MEE) October 7, 2014

Bates is rated as a three-star prospect by both ESPN and Rivals. He held scholarship offers from Mississippi State, Michigan, Ole Miss, Oregon State, TCU and Texas Tech.

Bates is rated as the No. 30 strongside defensive end in the nation by Rivals and the No. 54 defensive end in the nation by ESPN (note: ESPN does not differentiate between strongside and weakside defensive ends in their rankings).

Bates visited Arizona State in late August and was primarily recruited by Mike Norvell, he is the first defensive lineman to commit to the Sun Devils. He is only the second defensive recruit to join Arizona State's class of 2015 (Jason Lewis projects on the defensive side but is listed as an athlete).

The 6-foot-5, 235-pound defensive end had a final five of Arizona State, Texas Tech, Mississippi State, Louisiana-Lafayette and Michigan. He visited Mississippi State this past weekend and took in their victory over Texas A&M and there were some down South that believed the Bulldogs were the favorite.

Both Todd Graham, and linebacker commit Malik Lawal showed their excitement over the pledge of Bates.

Boom! Great way to start the day!!! #SunDevilBrotherhood

— Todd Graham (@CoachGrahamASU) October 7, 2014

We just picked up a monster dude welcome to the brotherhood @KINNG_MEE #forksup

— Malik Lawal (@maliklawal37) October 7, 2014

Bates is the 13th commitment to the Sun Devils in their current class. Just a reminder that his commitment is strictly verbal and non-binding until the first Wednesday in February.

Here are highlights of Bates' junior year.