King/Drew senior Kameron Gates plays football and basketball for the Golden Eagles. Gates will be continuing his football career at Morehouse in the fall.
In football, Gates helped the team to a 4-8 overall record and a 3-2 Coliseum League record. He also helped the boy’s basketball team win the CIF City Section Open Division Championship this year.
“I was second team All-City this year,” Gates said about his efforts in football. “I played last year and this year, so I was the first receiver that went 1000 yards, so there’s a lot of milestones I hit this year.”
Gates is the only senior on the basketball team. He used his leadership skills to keep the team focused. This helped the Golden Eagles build chemistry throughout the season.
Related Stories
Celebrities Compete with Pro Golfers at MB Invitational
Washington Prep Flag Football Wins Rams Academic Challenge
“Sometimes it’s hard to keep them focused and so that’s challenged me to be a better leader and make sure they stay on task,” Gates said. “It’s definitely challenged me in a good way.”
When the King/Drew football team started in the Fall of 2022, Gates had never played football. Improving in football helped him excel in basketball.
“I played a season of football, I got stronger. I was told to put on weight, get faster … I did that in the offseason, had an amazing season,” Gates said. “Then I came back this year and all the benefits of football have elevated the basketball game.”
At the end of the football season, Gates earned the honor of team MVP.
“The coaches let me know early that I would be heavily relied on,” Gates said. “My stats are going up, coaches are reaching out to me and my confidence starts building, that was probably my proudest moment in terms of football.”
Maintaining high grades in school while competing in two sports can be rigorous but Gates is willing to take on the challenge.
“It’s honestly a privilege being able to maintain a high GPA that the school says for us to play and win on the court or the field,” Gates said.
Gates enjoys his AP computer science class; he plans on making that his major in college and ultimately get into a career in computer engineering.
Outside athletics and academics, Gates used to work in the radiology department at the King Community Hospital during his junior year.
“I knew what type of work they do with computers every day,” Gates said. “I worked there from September to May about about seven hours a week during the school day.”
He and his teammates would also visit local elementary schools to facilitate activities with them.
Gates noted that he will miss his classmates and competing all year-round.
“Playing year-round sports, I’m here 90 percent of the time,” Gates said. “It’s a small school in terms of size and everybody knows everybody and I’m not on bad terms with anybody.”
