Nathan Cates: Passion personified

Clank! The ball bounces off the rim and into the big man’s hands. He rises up strong and finishes with contact. The player screams “AND 1!” with ferocity as the crowd cheers him on. This sequence has been a normality in senior Nathan Cates’ high school career, as he’s remained an integral part of the HSMSE boys basketball varsity team.

Cates, who has played three out of the four years, wasn’t always the most dedicated and focused player. During his freshman year, Cates struggled to maintain composure on and off the court and as a result of that, only played in four games his rookie season.

“When you’re younger, you can be hot-headed,” Cates said. “As a captain, you have to keep your head cool.”

Nathan Cates / Tom Henning

Referring to an incident earlier in his career in which he got benched for a scuffle with an opposing player after a foul, Cates said he matured over time. This year he has yet to receive a technical foul and has used his experience to instruct the underclassmen.

“Throughout the years I’ve had a change of attitude,” Cates said. “As I became an upperclassman, I was able to improve through practice and learning from those before me.”

As his focus improved on the court, so did his focus off the court. The only year Cates was not able to participate in varsity sports was his sophomore year of high school, in which subpar grades limited him from playing on the team. Motivated to get back on the team, he began to work harder in school, stating that the desire to play basketball has helped him with his academic responsibilities.

“When I’m doing my classwork I know that it’s necessary to play the game I love,” he said. “It pays off. I used to have academic issues, but it’s not worth missing basketball season.”

The maturing process he has gone through has physically and mentally changed Cates. Averaging a career high 10.7 ppg to go along with 14.7 rpg, his rebounding and his post play has been vital to the Dragons playoff push.

“Rebounding is the beginning of offense,” Cates states. “Every rebound is the start of a new possession. That’s how I get most of my points. Nothing’s better than rebounding.”

Now, as the team gets ready for its first playoff game in five years, Nathan Cates has sustained confidence in himself and his teammates. He believes a title, which would be the first in HSMSE basketball history, is not out of the question.

“We have a great team,” he said. “We have a lot of chemistry. I think we can beat any team.”

Authored by Arik Armstead, Bruce Mayfield