2021 OL Parker Bates Enjoys Notre Dame Return

After camping at Notre Dame this past summer, Parker Bates‍ was back in South Bend this past weekend the 2021 Kentucky again left impressed.

“Everything went great,” said Bates (pictured above, far left). “We toured the new facility. It looked really nice. The game went great, they blew out Navy, which was pretty amazing.

“Everything went smooth; the tour, the players talking, I learned a lot about the school from the players talking.”

The player panel before the game shed plenty of light on what it’s like to be a football player at Notre Dame.

“They talked about how you need to balance out your time between school and football,” Bates explained. “That can be one of the hardest things coming in as a freshman, your time management. They also talked about how you have to keep up with your school as much as you do your football because that’s just as important. You want to graduate.”

Bates, who has an early offer from Kentucky, said he “definitely” saw a lot more than he did for the camp visit.

“The locker room looked great,” he continued. “It’s really nice. The new facility looks amazing. Being in the stands and the atmosphere with all of the fans was pretty great.”

He also had the chance to speak with Notre Dame offensive line coach Jeff Quinn.

“He recognized me and remembered me from the camp,” Bates said of Quinn. “I got to talk to him for a second, not long though. It was pretty good to talk to him though.”

Bates also had the chance to meet up with Director of Player Development Hunter Bivin, who attended the same Apollo High School that Bates does now.

Bates heads to Louisville next weekend and Western Kentucky after that.

He expects to be back in South Bend again as well.

“I’m pretty sure the next step is coming back to the camp again this summer.  I’m definitely going to show that I’ve improved some from last summer and that I’m a better player in general.”