Indiana University Athletics
Fatherhood, New Purpose and the Evolution of Tamar Bates
8/1/2022 9:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – It's no longer just about Tamar Bates. Indiana's sophomore guard gets it, embraces it.
Fatherhood demands it.
"My dreams become her dreams," he says about 4-month-old daughter Leilani Nicole Bates.
"As soon as I saw her, it flipped a switch. Everything I'm doing, all the work I'm putting in, it's not just for me. I want to provide for her and my family. All those early mornings and late nights, doing everything that I've been doing, I'm a lot more focused. I have a purpose."
Basketball and academics are a means to Bates' hoped-for end -- take care of Leilani and play professionally.
"My new purpose is to provide and put food on the table for her," he says via recent Zoom availability. "How I wrap my head around that is making sure her up-bringing and how she's raised is better than how I was raised.
"That's no knock to my parents. They did a fantastic job. But I want to out-do them. I want to do better than them. That's how it's supposed to be."
Fatherhood for Bates came on March 20, two days after Indiana's season ended in Portland, Ore., against St. Mary's in the NCAA tourney.
Bates raced against an imminent birth deadline. He left Portland at 5 a.m. after totaling seven points and a rebound in that loss. He flew to Utah and then to his Kansas City home, exhaustion be darned.
Missing Leilani's birth wasn't an option.
"I was going to make sure I was there," he says.
Bates was there, and life will never be the same.
"I want to make sure she doesn't have to worry about anything," he says. "Give her the world and everything that she can ever dream about, but at the same time instill things in her that were instilled in me, which is that you have to work for everything that you get."
Some might see this as a distraction. Bates views it as another opportunity.
"It's been beautiful in terms of navigating. It hasn't been too difficult being a father and a college athlete."
Bates didn't know that at first. Having a child is challenging even for those well into their careers, let alone for a teenager juggling college academic demands with elite-caliber basketball.
Bates found perspective.
"My girlfriend was pregnant and not knowing how things were going to go -- it was nowhere as scary or bad as I thought it was going to be," he says. "It came at the perfect time just after my freshman season.
"Her being born was the thing I didn't know I needed. It gives me a different kind of focus, a different kind of drive, a different kind of motivation. It's been good for me in terms of my basketball game."
Specifically, he adds, "A lot of the leadership qualities that a father takes on translate to the basketball court."
Bates isn't raising his daughter alone. His girlfriend, parents (Dr. Tyrone and Lajasima Bates) and family share responsibility. He is in Bloomington meeting his basketball and academic obligations while Leilani remains in Kansas City.
"Everybody pitches in any way they can," Bates says. "I wouldn't say there's a specific person or group of people that do more than others. Right now, she has not been here with me. She's been home with (the family) and they have been taking good care of her.
"We are all a family. The fact that we added her to the band, it's been really easy because everybody is in support. Everybody wants to help.
"When I do have a chance to get her up here, I know everything will be all good."
Bates has a plan for the future, and like so many players with NBA dreams, he hopes to use basketball to achieve it. Leilani will be a big part of that.
"I can't wait until she gets a little older and starts being around the game. I feel like she'll eventually want to pick the ball up because we're going to be in the gym all the time. That will be special.
"I have a new purpose. The fact that she's mine. She's my responsibility. So, I need to make sure that she's taken care of."
That means playing as if he's one of the best players in America. It's not unrealistic given he was a top-25 prospect coming out of IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.
The challenge is turning potential into reality.
"It's being able to guard at a high level," Bates says. "Make open shots, create shots and be a constant leader, talker and motivator. Not getting outside myself.
"I can be really good offensively and defensively."
Bates mentions Andrew Wiggins, who emerged as an offensive and defensive standout during the Golden State Warriors' drive to their fourth NBA title in eight years, as to what he could become.
"He had a big role on a winning team," Bates says.
The 6-5 Bates has reaped the benefits of strength coach Clif Marshall's program. He arrived at IU at 178 pounds, played last season at 185 and is now 200.
"I was trying to gain weight and keep my body fat down, which I did. Just gain strength.
"The biggest part is actually taking care of your body. It's a long season, long practices, you're traveling all the time. We're in the weight room and training and conditioning. I feel like I'm doing a much better job of taking care of my body, stretching, doing yoga, doing things that we call like a credit to our body."
Players need all the credit they can get amid Big Ten physicality.
"Going through the Big Ten," Bates says, "that was really physical. You've got to be able to throw your weight around so you can compete.
"That goes for all times. You can't be too light because your body is going to break down. That goes back to being bigger and taking care of my body and maintaining strength and my weight."
At times last season, especially early on, Bates played beyond his years. He had 13 points against Nebraska and Michigan State, 11 against St. John's, 10 against Louisiana.
But freshman inconsistency surfaced. In one 10-game stretch, Bates failed to score. In the first seven January games, he was just 2-for-16 from the field for four points.
In 32 games, Bates averaged 3.9 points and 1.3 rebounds. He did shoot 83 percent from the free-throw line and totaled 20 assists and eight steals.
Bates says he's better for the struggles.
"The only thing that really prepares you for college basketball is college basketball. The same goes for you go to the NBA and the next level.
"Just going through that storm -- I'm a stronger basketball player. I came out stronger mentally because I know everything is not going to go my way, personally or the team.
"Going through that and figuring out, that's where I'm going to get my shots from and this is how things are going to go. I went through the Big Ten, just really just getting a feel for everything. Having that experience under my belt will help with everything."
Bates figures to have a big shooting role in the upcoming season. He's made shots at every level (he was a 40-plus percent three-point shooter in high school), and coach Mike Woodson needs that from him and all the Hoosiers.
"Shooters shoot," Bates says. "I'm going to shoot and have confidence and believe in my teammates. We trust each other and work on our game. There's going to be ups and downs, but we'll make the shots."
Beyond that, his goal is to "Make plays with the basketball and not turning it over it over. Being a guy to relieve some of the pressure, help them play off a ball, make open shots. Pass the ball.
"I've always been able to create my own shot and get to my spots, but where I really need to improve is my ball handling, decision-making and being able to take on some of that lead-guard role and help some of the other guys we."
Bates is part of what looms as a loaded backcourt with veterans Xavier Johnson, Trey Galloway and Anthony Leal, and freshmen C.J. Gunn and Jalen Hood-Schifino.
"What's different now," Bates says, "is we are all on the same page in terms of what Coach Woodson wants.
"Last year was everybody's first year of being under that staff. We were all learning. It was a constant learning process the whole year. Now we have the fundamental concepts and the things we want to do on both ends of the floor
"We brought back a lot of the guys who already learned and got it instilled in them. It's been easy to bring along the freshmen in terms of teaching them what we do and how things go and how we're going to play defensively, offensively."
But in the end, one thing matters most:
It's no longer just about Tamar Bates.
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – It's no longer just about Tamar Bates. Indiana's sophomore guard gets it, embraces it.
Fatherhood demands it.
"My dreams become her dreams," he says about 4-month-old daughter Leilani Nicole Bates.
"As soon as I saw her, it flipped a switch. Everything I'm doing, all the work I'm putting in, it's not just for me. I want to provide for her and my family. All those early mornings and late nights, doing everything that I've been doing, I'm a lot more focused. I have a purpose."
Basketball and academics are a means to Bates' hoped-for end -- take care of Leilani and play professionally.
"My new purpose is to provide and put food on the table for her," he says via recent Zoom availability. "How I wrap my head around that is making sure her up-bringing and how she's raised is better than how I was raised.
"That's no knock to my parents. They did a fantastic job. But I want to out-do them. I want to do better than them. That's how it's supposed to be."
Fatherhood for Bates came on March 20, two days after Indiana's season ended in Portland, Ore., against St. Mary's in the NCAA tourney.
Bates raced against an imminent birth deadline. He left Portland at 5 a.m. after totaling seven points and a rebound in that loss. He flew to Utah and then to his Kansas City home, exhaustion be darned.
Missing Leilani's birth wasn't an option.
"I was going to make sure I was there," he says.
Bates was there, and life will never be the same.
"I want to make sure she doesn't have to worry about anything," he says. "Give her the world and everything that she can ever dream about, but at the same time instill things in her that were instilled in me, which is that you have to work for everything that you get."
Some might see this as a distraction. Bates views it as another opportunity.
"It's been beautiful in terms of navigating. It hasn't been too difficult being a father and a college athlete."
Bates didn't know that at first. Having a child is challenging even for those well into their careers, let alone for a teenager juggling college academic demands with elite-caliber basketball.
Bates found perspective.
"My girlfriend was pregnant and not knowing how things were going to go -- it was nowhere as scary or bad as I thought it was going to be," he says. "It came at the perfect time just after my freshman season.
"Her being born was the thing I didn't know I needed. It gives me a different kind of focus, a different kind of drive, a different kind of motivation. It's been good for me in terms of my basketball game."
Specifically, he adds, "A lot of the leadership qualities that a father takes on translate to the basketball court."
Bates isn't raising his daughter alone. His girlfriend, parents (Dr. Tyrone and Lajasima Bates) and family share responsibility. He is in Bloomington meeting his basketball and academic obligations while Leilani remains in Kansas City.
"Everybody pitches in any way they can," Bates says. "I wouldn't say there's a specific person or group of people that do more than others. Right now, she has not been here with me. She's been home with (the family) and they have been taking good care of her.
"We are all a family. The fact that we added her to the band, it's been really easy because everybody is in support. Everybody wants to help.
"When I do have a chance to get her up here, I know everything will be all good."
Bates has a plan for the future, and like so many players with NBA dreams, he hopes to use basketball to achieve it. Leilani will be a big part of that.
"I can't wait until she gets a little older and starts being around the game. I feel like she'll eventually want to pick the ball up because we're going to be in the gym all the time. That will be special.
"I have a new purpose. The fact that she's mine. She's my responsibility. So, I need to make sure that she's taken care of."
That means playing as if he's one of the best players in America. It's not unrealistic given he was a top-25 prospect coming out of IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.
The challenge is turning potential into reality.
"It's being able to guard at a high level," Bates says. "Make open shots, create shots and be a constant leader, talker and motivator. Not getting outside myself.
"I can be really good offensively and defensively."
Bates mentions Andrew Wiggins, who emerged as an offensive and defensive standout during the Golden State Warriors' drive to their fourth NBA title in eight years, as to what he could become.
"He had a big role on a winning team," Bates says.
The 6-5 Bates has reaped the benefits of strength coach Clif Marshall's program. He arrived at IU at 178 pounds, played last season at 185 and is now 200.
"I was trying to gain weight and keep my body fat down, which I did. Just gain strength.
"The biggest part is actually taking care of your body. It's a long season, long practices, you're traveling all the time. We're in the weight room and training and conditioning. I feel like I'm doing a much better job of taking care of my body, stretching, doing yoga, doing things that we call like a credit to our body."
Players need all the credit they can get amid Big Ten physicality.
"Going through the Big Ten," Bates says, "that was really physical. You've got to be able to throw your weight around so you can compete.
"That goes for all times. You can't be too light because your body is going to break down. That goes back to being bigger and taking care of my body and maintaining strength and my weight."
At times last season, especially early on, Bates played beyond his years. He had 13 points against Nebraska and Michigan State, 11 against St. John's, 10 against Louisiana.
But freshman inconsistency surfaced. In one 10-game stretch, Bates failed to score. In the first seven January games, he was just 2-for-16 from the field for four points.
In 32 games, Bates averaged 3.9 points and 1.3 rebounds. He did shoot 83 percent from the free-throw line and totaled 20 assists and eight steals.
Bates says he's better for the struggles.
"The only thing that really prepares you for college basketball is college basketball. The same goes for you go to the NBA and the next level.
"Just going through that storm -- I'm a stronger basketball player. I came out stronger mentally because I know everything is not going to go my way, personally or the team.
"Going through that and figuring out, that's where I'm going to get my shots from and this is how things are going to go. I went through the Big Ten, just really just getting a feel for everything. Having that experience under my belt will help with everything."
Bates figures to have a big shooting role in the upcoming season. He's made shots at every level (he was a 40-plus percent three-point shooter in high school), and coach Mike Woodson needs that from him and all the Hoosiers.
"Shooters shoot," Bates says. "I'm going to shoot and have confidence and believe in my teammates. We trust each other and work on our game. There's going to be ups and downs, but we'll make the shots."
Beyond that, his goal is to "Make plays with the basketball and not turning it over it over. Being a guy to relieve some of the pressure, help them play off a ball, make open shots. Pass the ball.
"I've always been able to create my own shot and get to my spots, but where I really need to improve is my ball handling, decision-making and being able to take on some of that lead-guard role and help some of the other guys we."
Bates is part of what looms as a loaded backcourt with veterans Xavier Johnson, Trey Galloway and Anthony Leal, and freshmen C.J. Gunn and Jalen Hood-Schifino.
"What's different now," Bates says, "is we are all on the same page in terms of what Coach Woodson wants.
"Last year was everybody's first year of being under that staff. We were all learning. It was a constant learning process the whole year. Now we have the fundamental concepts and the things we want to do on both ends of the floor
"We brought back a lot of the guys who already learned and got it instilled in them. It's been easy to bring along the freshmen in terms of teaching them what we do and how things go and how we're going to play defensively, offensively."
But in the end, one thing matters most:
It's no longer just about Tamar Bates.
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