Recruiting Report: Jacob Bates (2016)

<p><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">2016 Oldham County forward <strong>Jacob Bates</strong> is a 6’5” versatile combo forward that could see his stock rise with a big senior season. Jacob is a multi-sport athlete, he plays baseball as well, and that’s likely added to his versatility. He’s a little undersized as a four, but can get in the post and mix things up. He’s also a solid ball-handler and can take his man off the bounce from the wing; he needs to improve as a shooter, but has some really nice potential. He&#39;s also a high level student with a 4.05 GPA and a 26 ACT score, so he&#39;ll have no problem qualifying for any level of school.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Centre College, Emory and Henry, Hanover and Hamilton College have all expressed interest in Jacob so far. Jacob doesn’t have any offers at the moment, but plans to visit Center College in early September and plans to visit Emory and Henry in late September/early October. Centre and Emory and Henry are standing out for Jacob right now, but it’s early and he says there is still plenty of time for others schools to emerge. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Jacob had a really nice summer on the grassroots circuit and in camps. He made the Top 20 All-Star team at Blue Chip and was one of the better players for higher level in their last two tournaments once he joined them. He’s working on his perimeter skills a lot right now, but wants to remain an effective post player as well. He’s worked on getting stronger and in better shape conditioning-wise as well. He says there isn’t any reason he can’t average a double-double for Oldham County this season.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Speaking of Oldham County, Jacob says they are setting their goals very high for the upcoming season. His team wants to win their district, region and a state championship as well as get at least 25 wins. They will also travel to Phoenix for the Cactus Jam around Christmas and would like to bring a trophy back to Buckner. Jacob knows he along with his fellow seniors need to lead their team to accomplish goals, but he’s confident in his teammates and thinks even some underclassmen will step up and help out this season. “We just need to play solid, non-sloppy basketball and we will be fine.”</span></span></p>