Former Centre College star Jacob Bates remembers his days at youth camps

Jacob Bates with Centre College coach Greg Mason. (Larry Vaught Photo)

The campers ages 5 to 13 wanted to know everything from what type of car he drove to first names of his friends to his favorite tennis shoe to his favorite food.

But what the boys attending coach Greg Mason’s Centre College Basketball Camp liked best about 6-4 Jacob Bates Tuesday was when he grabbed a basketball, took a few steps and easily dunked.

Bates was the 2020 Southern Athletic Association Player of the Year and Division III All-American for the Colonels. He spent last season in Malta — an island close to Italy — playing for the Starlets Basketball Club. He averaged 18.6 points, 10.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 2.0 steals and 28 minutes per game and helped the Starlets win the league championship in a three-game playoff sweep. Bates had a triple-double — 23 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists — in the final game and had 70 points and 43 rebounds in the three games.

He’s back home in Oldham County now waiting to see where his agent may help him land in a higher level European League next season and came to Danville to visit with the campers.

“I must have gone to 25 or 30 camps like this growing up. I made friends and have a lot of good memories from summer camps,” he said.

He advised the players to know what they are good at and do that as hard as they can every practice or game.

“Do whatever you can to get on the floor and stay on the floor,” he said.

Bates played baseball and soccer along with basketball growing up and said playing different sports “helps” in many ways. He even played in the Little League World Series in 2011 in Williamsport, Pa., and was a first baseman-pitcher.

One camper wanted to know the best player Bates had played against. He went with Kentucky’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who is now a successful NBA player. Centre played UK in an exhibition game before the 2017-18 season and lost 106-63. However, Centre trailed  just 28-22 with eight minutes left in the first half.

That Kentucky team also had future NBA players PJ Washington, Kevin Knox, Wenyen Gabriel, Hamidou Diallo and Nick Richards.

“Kentucky had a team full of good players but we kept it close for a while and made coach Cal (John Calipari) have to use some timeouts in the first half and even yell at his players,” Bates, age 23, said.

He also threw in this zinger that the campers liked.

“We did score more points than Louisville did against Kentucky that season,” Bates, who had three points, four rebounds and three assists in 14 minutes against UK, said.

I asked Bates what advice he might have for young players when coaches yell at them during practices or games.

“Getting yelled at is part of the game. It helped me grow as a player. Coaches know how good you are and want you to be your best. They just want to make you better,” Bates told the campers. “Listen to your parents and coaches. They know what is best for you. You might not always like it, but trust them and listen.”