Roy Bates - 1983

Northwestern H.S.

Few high school coaches, in their wildest dreams, could ever think of accomplishing the feats that Roy Bates has accomplished. Roy rose to fame at Chester H.S., then on to Northwestern H.S. to do likewise. He remains, even today, one of the few coaches elected into the Ohio High School Hall of Fame in both baseball and basketball. Roy's teams won over 400 games in both sports. His Northwestern Huskies won the 1959 state championship in baseball. In 1965, they won the state basketball championship. While Roy was the Athletic Director, the Huskies won state basketball titles in 1958 and 1966. The foundation of the great Chester and Northwestern sports program was begun in 1937 when Roy started his teaching career. Coach Bates squads were known for tremendous team effort, great defense and competitiveness. Coach Bates never coached or played on a team with a losing record. His total baseball coaching record for varsity was 498-38. His JV coaching record was 87-0 and his freshmen baseball coaching record was 208-7. Roy was an assistant coach for Bobby Knight at Indiana University. Players included Butch Carter, Isiah Thomas and Randy Whitman.