Named after 2004 100-meter Olympic gold medalist Justin Gatlin, speed was in the cards for
Gatlin Bair of
Burley (Idaho).
The Class of 2024 wide receiver prospect had more than 1,000 yards in the fall and is coming off a record day at the Texas Relays earlier this month. It's one of the most prestigious high school track and field meets in the country.
In the prelim of the 100 meters, he set a personal-best time of 10.18 seconds to win the heat over top sprinters that included five-star South Carolina football signee Nyckoles Harbor of Archbishop Carroll (Washington, D.C.).
Bair then won the final with a time of 10.25. His 10.18 is the second-fastest 100 meter at the high school level this spring behind Issam Asinga of Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) and would have tied him for sixth at the 2022 NCAA championships. It was even faster than Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill's top high school time of 10.19.
The junior multi-sport standout lives in a town with a population just under 12,000 people and has been around track all his life. His parents competed at Utah State where father Brad was a decathlete and his mother Shae was a three-time All-American pole vaulter. His two older brothers both run in the SEC – Peyton at Mississippi State and Jaxon at Arkansas.
Bair, who has won four Idaho state championships in track, will run a different route than his brothers with a plan to focus on football at the college level. He recently named Boise State, Michigan, Nebraska, Oregon and TCU in his top five schools and he is ranked as the No. 40 player nationally in the 2024 class by
247Sports.
He has shined on the gridiron since his freshman year at
Kimberly (Idaho). Bair was second on the team in receiving yards. In the playoffs he caught a game-winning 54-yard touchdown on the road with under a minute to play against Snake River.
As a sophomore Bair led the team in receiving yards and had 15 touchdowns. He then transitioned to basketball and led the school to its first state title since 1952. On the track he won the 100-meter, 200-meter and triple jump state titles.
Bair's family then moved about 30 minutes away and he transferred to Burley, where he put up Justin Jefferson-esque numbers on the football field as a junior. He put up 244 receiving yards and four scores in one game, 204 yards and five touchdowns in another. On the season he had 73 receptions for 1,073 yards with 18 touchdown catches.
In three seasons he has caught a total of 157 passes for 2,645 yards and 41 touchdowns.
The soon-to-be senior plans to graduate early after the fall season to serve his LDS mission before going to college in 2026 according to 247Sports.
