HANOVER, Ind. - Jacob Bates joins the Hanover College men's basketball coaching staff as a Panthers' assistant coach after an outstanding collegiate playing career at Centre College (KY) followed by an overseas stint as a professional basketball player.
 
Bates, an Oldham County HS (KY) native, finished his playing career at Centre College in 2020 by helping to lead the Coloniels to a conference championship and a berth in the NCAA tournament.  Following his final season he was honored as the Southern Athletic Association (SAA) conference player of the year and also as an NABC All-American.  In addition, he was also named a 2020 NABC Reese's All-Star. Following his playing career at Centre, and after the Covid pandemic, Bates spent the next two seasons playing professionally in the country of Malta where his team won multiple league championships.  Most recently Bates played as part of the "We are D3" in The Basketball Tournament (TBT) during the summer of 2023.
 
"Coach Bates experience as a high level student-athlete at Centre College and his basketball experiences on the professional level will be a great asset for our basketball program and an outstanding resource for our current and future players.  He has competed at a championship level as a player and those are the expectations we have of our program here at Hanover too.  We are really excited to bring him on-board."
Bates will work along side Hanover Head Coach Jon Miller ('97) and Associate Head Coach and former Hanover all-conference player Ryan Nowicki ('13) to form the coaching staff for the 2024-25 edition of the Hanover Basketball Team.