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Indiana guard Tamar Bates enters his second season in Bloomington with high expectations from himself, his teammates, and people even outside of the Indiana program.
Bates came to Indiana as a top-35 prospect in the country as a borderline five-star prospect from IMG Academy (Fla.). He flashed his potential right away when Indiana had its exhibition trip to the Bahamas, scoring 14 points in his first game wearing an Indiana jersey. He went on to average 11.4 points in IU's two exhibition wins.
Heading into the season, Bates was expected to be a significant member of the rotation and even a potential go-to player. However, his freshman year was inconsistent, dealing with on and off of the court aspects.
Now, entering his sophomore year, Indiana head coach Mike Woodson is expecting him to be the 'breakout' player on the roster -- just as everyone is anticipating. Woodson joined the College Hoops Today podcast and pointed to Bates as that guy.
“I like to think Tamar Bates," Woodson told Jon Rothstein. “He’s been a guy we targeted when we first brought him to do some special things for us. And as a freshman he had his ups and downs. But he's had a great offseason -- his summer work has just been fantastic for him in terms of his growth, and I’m looking for big things from him.”
As a freshman, Bates played 32 games and averaged 3.9 points, 1.3 rebounds and shot 33.8 percent overall and 29.8 percent from three. He did, however, have four games in double-figures, with three coming against high-major, power-five programs.
He took 44 percent of his overall shot attempts from three last season. He shot just 29.8 percent from three on the year and just 27.3 percent in Big Ten play. Overall his shooting percentage dipped from 37 percent on 2s overall to 25.6 percent on 2s in conference games.
A big part of Bates' development and improvement this summer is because of his body -- something he was quick to point out throughout the summer.
"I would say first off, my body, like my overall strength, just the weight that I've put on. The goal was to get to 200 pounds and I hit that this summer," Bates said earlier this summer. "... "I'm up to 200. I got here -- when I first got here, I was 178. So that's 22 pounds. But last year, I played at like 185, 183."
Bates is a 6-foot-5 guard who showed a good ability to get his shot off and be an energy player off of the bench. When he was good -- he was very good. This summer, he has focused on being a better all-around playmaker for this Indiana offense.
"I would say making 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 and some of the offense -- making open shots," Bates said. "You know, and then you know, passing the ball.
"But I would say I've always been able to create my own shot and get to my spots but I feel like where I really need to improve is my ball handling, decision-making and being able to take on some of that leading guard role and help some of the other guys we have."
The Indiana backcourt returns a lot of talent from last year as well as adding to it. Players like Xavier Johnson, Jalen Hood-Schifino, Trey Galloway, Anthony Leal and CJ Gunn will all be vying for consistent minutes and looking to play specific roles. Bates is a guy, however, that Indiana is clearly going to look to as someone to play a big part of this season.
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