Diamond In The Rough: Cameron Bates

When you see and hear about star players, you cannot count this guy out! Cameron Bates is Pineville High School’s prized athlete on and off of the field. After coming off of a tough season as a team, Cameron is equipped with all of the skills that you look for in a quarterback. He is well spoken and exceptionally smart maintaining a 4.25 GPA and earning a 30 on the ACT. His future is undeniably bright! Quarterback Cameron Bates is 17 years old, stands at 6’ 3” and weighs 215 pounds. He benches 295 pounds, squats 435 pounds, deadlifts 450 pounds and runs a 4.7 second 40-yard dash.

When Bates was 9 years old, he decided to get his feet wet with football but chose not to play throughout junior high school. Following his dad’s and grandpa’s footsteps, who were also quarterbacks, Cameron could no longer push his talent to the side and returned to play football as a junior in high school. It would be in that year, Cameron would be the first quarterback in over a decade to throw over 1,000 yards in a season for the Rebels. However, as a senior, Bates has only one year as a starter under his belt but showed a lot of progress throughout last year’s season. Not to mention, he is a standout on the baseball field for the Rebels. With his talent and good instincts, Bates could be one of the best quarterbacks from the 2018 class. Just watch his highlight film down below.

http://www.hudl.com/profile/5288164/cameron-bates

Cameron Bates definitely knows how to stay in the pocket and manages to still make the right passes when he takes a hit. Even when the pocket breaks down, Bates resorts to his feet to get the job done. He believes his physical strength and mental strength are some of his best characteristics because as a quarterback he must make the right decisions in a short period of time. However, he acknowledges there is still room for growth as he works on getting faster and stronger in hopes of helping the Rebels’ program turn around. Cameron said, “I try to be a leader and take responsibility when I fall short. I like to keep my teammates’ heads up and encourage them because it isn’t about me but it’s a collective effort so that we can be successful as a team.”

Cameron said, “Coach Dennis Dunn has helped me out a lot. He is super wise and helped mold me into the player that I am. He’s coached me into being a smarter, faster and a bigger player. He is a great coach because he’s done it all and you can feel how passionate he is about the game.” Aside from Coach Dunn, he said Cameron Newton is a football player he looks up to. His reason being, Cameron Newton is his own player where either you like him or you don’t, but he knows how to move the ball and has a unique playing style.

As far as college goes, Bates would love to attend college in Louisiana. He loves bigger schools such as Louisiana State University but has also been looking at La Tech and Louisiana College. As of now, he’s leaving his options open as he should with his intelligence and talent. Bates shocked me when he mentioned that he wants to study Pre-Law in college. However, after interviewing Cameron Bates, I know that the sky is the limit for him! He also expressed that one of the best parts of being a student athlete is the school spirit that the Rebels have and having the support of his family.

Being able to interview Cameron Bates was a pleasure. He is young, humble, intelligent and has a promising future ahead of him. I look forward to hearing more about Cameron Bates in years to come!

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Twitter: CamBates6
Facebook: Cameron Bates
Email: ca*************@gm***.com