“I feel like the only thing that could really prepare you for college basketball is college basketball,” IU shooting guard Tamar Bates said Thursday, describing the litmus test nature of the game.
But there were times during his freshman year as a college athlete when basketball was the easy part.
Bates lost a close family member during the 2021-22 campaign, and before it began, he knew he would become a father just as his first college season ended.
It was a lot to take on for someone who was 18 at the time.
But the things that changed real life were yet to come.
Bates turned 19 in February. A month later, just days after Indiana lost to St. Mary’s in the NCAA Tournament in Portland, he headed to his hometown of Kansas City, Kan.
And on March 20, 2022, Leilani Nicole Bates was born.
To those who knew him over the past year, Bates already had a determination about him that seemed unusual for his age. While many freshmen arrive on campus unsure of themselves, Bates conducted himself like a professional.
And after seeing her daughter for the first time, she found that her focus reached new levels.
“It puts me in a completely different state of mind,” Bates said.
“I’m talking as soon as I saw her, it’s like I’ve flipped a switch. Now, everything that I’m doing, all the work that I’m doing, it’s not just for me. I want to provide for her and my family. It’s like getting up early in the morning, late at night and doing everything I’ve been doing, I’m much more focused because I have a purpose.
Bates won’t say that events in his personal life derailed his freshman season, and there’s no way of knowing for sure.
But he seemed like a player who was eventually overcome by the weight of everything that was going on, both on and off the court.
A borderline 5-star prospect from IMG Academy, Bates showed his potential early in the season. He scored 11 against St. John’s and 13 against Nebraska, which seemed to be indicators that Bates was ready for major college basketball. But in the end, the 6-foot-5 freshman shot just 33.8 percent from the field and played just 14.5 minutes per game.
There were times during the season when it seemed like his confidence had completely faded.
He knows that can’t happen again in the second year.
With Leilani at the forefront, fueling her development, Bates has clear goals when it comes to improving her game.
“Being better than last year defensively, making open shots, creating shots and just a consistent team leader,” he said when asked what improvements he has focused on.
An added benefit should be the mass that Bates has added to his frame.
A year ago, head coach Mike Woodson called him “light on the butt,” and Bates says he played at just 185 pounds.
When he came to IU Bates weighed just 178 pounds, but now he weighs 200, and he hopes the extra bulk will help him survive the physical rigors of high-level college basketball.
“Obviously, I know going through the Big Ten was really physical,” Bates said. “You have to be able to move your weight a little bit to be able to compete. But that goes for all time. You can’t just, you can’t be too light or anything like that because your body is going to break down.”
Bates says his daughter is back in Kansas City right now, but it’s never far from his mind.
This season will be more than a great unknown that will soon arrive.
She is here, and for Bates, that means breaking down, physically or mentally, is not an option.
“My new purpose is to provide and put food on the table for her. Obviously, the main thing is to make sure that her upbringing is better than me, and that’s not a problem for my parents. They did a fantastic job. But I want to get over them. I want to do better than them, and that’s how it’s supposed to be.
“I just want to make sure that he doesn’t have to worry about anything, and just give him the world and everything he can dream of, but at the same time instill in him things that were instilled in me, which is that you have to work for everything you get.” .
Basketball now seems secondary in the Bates story.
But if his development on the court parallels the wisdom he’s already gained as a father, Bates will be fine on the court come November.
And somewhere down the road in the not too distant future, he hopes to see the stories of his two passions now, Leilani and basketball, become one.
“I just can’t wait until she grows up a little bit and starts getting into the game,” Bates said. “I feel like eventually she’s going to want to pick up the ball because we’re going to be in the gym all the time. I feel like that’s special.”
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