Close Menu
The Daily Hoosier
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    Trending
    • Puerto Rico in focus: Thoughts on IU basketball forward Tucker DeVries
    • Former IU baseball pitcher McCade Brown makes MLB debut
    • Look: IU basketball posts 20 minute vlog from Puerto Rico trip
    • With successful football and new source of cash, IU is still evaluating the future of Memorial Stadium
    • Here’s where former IU football quarterbacks stand as 2025 college football season begins
    • East 17th Street Ep. 29 — Previewing UCLA and the IU defensive line
    • IU basketball to face Baylor in October exhibition in Indianapolis
    • Watch: IU AD Scott Dolson Q&A ahead of 2025 football season
    • Sign Up
    • About/Support
    • Jobs
    • Tickets
      • IUBB Tickets (Stubhub)
      • IUFB Tickets (Stubhub)
    • Shop
      • Official IU Store
      • IU Adidas Store
      • Amazon: Support TDH
      • IU Memorabilia
      • IU Press (Books)
      • The Daily Hoosier T-Shirt
    • Radio/Podcasts
      • East 17th Street
    • Pro IU
      • IUBB NBA
      • IUFB NFL
      • IUBASE MLB
    • Hoosier History
      • Basketball History
      • March Madness Classics
      • Football History
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram YouTube
    The Daily HoosierThe Daily Hoosier
    Monday, August 25
    • IU Basketball
      • Latest IU Basketball News
      • 2025-26 IU Basketball Roster
      • DeVries’ new staff
      • Future Schedules
      • Scholarship Chart
      • Big Ten Coming and Going
      • IU Basketball 2024-25 Schedule
      • 2024-25 Big Ten Standings
      • 24-25 IU Basketball Stats
      • Rankings & Bracketology
      • IU Basketball Media Guide
    • IU Football
      • Latest IU Football News
      • 2025 Schedule
      • Current roster
      • 2025 Position Previews
      • Roster updates by position
      • 2025 scholarship tracker
      • Future opponents through 2032
      • 2024 B1G Standings
      • 2024 IUFB Stats
      • IU Football 2025 Record Book
    • IU Recruiting
      • IU Basketball Recruiting News
      • IU Football Recruiting News
      • IUBB 2026-28 Prospects
      • Recruit Interviews
      • Recruit Highlights
      • IU Football Recruiting Commits
    • IU Women’s Basketball
      • IU Women’s Basketball News
      • 24-25 Schedule
      • Big Ten Standings
    • IU Men’s Soccer
      • 2024 Schedule
      • Indiana Men’s Soccer: Program History
    • More Hoosiers
      • Fan and Business NIL options
      • IU Baseball
        • Baseball Schedule
        • Statistics
        • Big Ten Standings
      • IU Swim & Dive
      • IU Olympic Results
    • Community
      • Join our Discord Server!
    The Daily Hoosier

    IU basketball: Mike Woodson points to Tamar Bates first when asked for breakout player

    Mike SchumannBy Mike SchumannOctober 4, 2022 IU Basketball 19 Comments
    Credit - IU Athletics
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

    Indiana is returning five of its top-six scorers from a year ago, and Mike Woodson was asked which of those five will take the biggest jump in 2022-23.

    But Woodson’s mind immediately went to his seventh leading returning player in terms of point production from last season.

    Who’s going to make the biggest jump?

    “I like to think Tamar Bates, he’s been a guy we targeted when we first brought him to do some special things for us,” Woodson told Jon Rothstein on the College Hoops Today podcast.  “But as a freshman he had some ups and downs.  Summer work has just been fantastic for him in terms of his growth, and I’m looking for big things from him.”

    Bates’ biggest challenge on the basketball court last year may have been his wiry frame, and he has placed a major emphasis on getting stronger during the offseason.  Woodson shared a concern last summer Bates was a little “light in the butt,” and that may have been a limiting factor for Bates, especially on the defensive end.  But the Kansas City, Kan. product said at IU’s media day he is up to 200 pounds, 17 more than his 2021-22 playing weight.

    While Bates didn’t arrive at IU with a lot of muscle, he did bring plenty of expectations as a top-30 prospect with no shortage of swagger.  The 6-foot-5 Bates got off to good start for the Hoosiers as a freshman, but the pressure he placed on himself to deliver from day one seems to have been an unnecessary burden.

    “When you’re first coming in you’re trying to prove yourself, but I don’t have that feeling, anymore,” Bates said at the media day.  “I’m just gonna go out there and do what we need to do to win games, because that’s what it’s about. … It was a lot of I would say overthinking (last year), and now it’s like ‘let’s go, let’s get to it.'”

    That Bates became a father during the offseason is well documented at this point.  That was another major variable hovering over his entire freshman campaign.

    Then a great unknown for a 19-year old, now Bates views becoming a father as another factor, perhaps the factor, that has sharpened his focus and resolve.

    “I can handle anything that comes my way,” Bates said when asked how fatherhood has made him stronger.  “No task is too large for me to tackle, especially with the army that I have behind me with my family and my teammates.”

    Yet another layer of added comfort for Bates this year comes on the court, as he returns to a system he now knows well.  A year ago, he and his teammates spent the summer and fall learning what Woodson wanted.  Now it almost comes by instinct.

    “Last year there was a lot of teaching, because he’s trying to instill his system, and how he wants to play offensively and defensively,” Bates said.

    “Now that we’ve already been through a year of playing together and playing through his system, it’s like ‘okay, we know exactly what he wants and what he needs.’  Even when we do go back over it, it’s like ‘we’ve done this a thousand times.'”


    The Daily Hoosier –“Where Indiana fans assemble when they’re not at Assembly”

    • Find us on Facebook:  thedailyhoosier
    • You can follow us on Twitter:  @daily_hoosier
    • Seven ways to support completely free IU coverage at no cost to you.

    Related

    indiana hoosiers Mike Woodson Tamar Bates
    Mike Schumann

    Keep Reading

    Puerto Rico in focus: Thoughts on IU basketball forward Tucker DeVries

    Look: IU basketball posts 20 minute vlog from Puerto Rico trip

    IU basketball to face Baylor in October exhibition in Indianapolis

    Latest Hoosier News
    • Puerto Rico in focus: Thoughts on IU basketball forward Tucker DeVries
    • Former IU baseball pitcher McCade Brown makes MLB debut
    • Look: IU basketball posts 20 minute vlog from Puerto Rico trip
    • With successful football and new source of cash, IU is still evaluating the future of Memorial Stadium
    • Here’s where former IU football quarterbacks stand as 2025 college football season begins
    • East 17th Street Ep. 29 — Previewing UCLA and the IU defensive line
    • IU basketball to face Baylor in October exhibition in Indianapolis
    Sign Up



    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram YouTube
    © 2025 The Daily Hoosier, LLC.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

    Ad Blocker Enabled!
    Ad Blocker Enabled!
    Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors. Please support us by disabling your Ad Blocker.