By Bryce McKinnis
While many high school athletes are waiting patiently to hear from college recruiters from any school, Bishop McGuinness Catholic High School senior guard Baylor Moates is fielding calls from some of the nation’s top academic institutions.
This spring, he visited schools like Columbia and Dartmouth. With a 35 ACT, 3.95 GPA — and a 6-foot-2, 310-pound frame — not only does Moates have the chance to play on Saturday mornings. He could earn his degree from an Ivy League school.
“My biggest motivation is my parents,” Moates said. “Academics has always been a focus for us, and I love to make them proud. They have worked very hard to put me in positions to succeed, and I want to show them that they have done a great job.”
From a young age, Moates’ parents pushed him to be well-rounded, well-adjusted and excellent in all of his endeavors. Grades were important, but athletics lend young overachievers, like Moates, unique values and perspectives on life.
“I started playing football in the first grade. Looking back, I am really fond of those memories, because my dad coached me until I started playing high school ball, and we bonded a lot over that,” Moates said. “I also made a lot of friends I am still close to today.”
There’s an obvious advantage to being the biggest player on the field at any level, but pure size can only get most players so far. As he has in the classroom, Moates has guided himself by an industrious work ethic, deliberate effort and earnest love for football since he hit the gridiron.
“I would say I have always been one of the bigger kids but definitely not strong,” Moates said. “It wasn’t really until I started working out in high school that I got some muscle to me. A lot of that is thanks to my strength coach. He puts together a lot of great programs for us and really helped me fall in love with the gym when I was a freshman.”
The world is Moates’ stage, and by also wrestling in the winter and throwing for the Irish track & field team in the spring, he gives himself more opportunities to excel while developing talents that translate to football.
“A lot of my improvement has come from technique,” Moates said. “The jump in strength was huge for me, but I didn’t really know how to control it or use it effectively. Aside from physical improvement, I used to have an issue of not being able to trust the other guys on my team, which led to my often overplaying out of my role.”
So, the zealous Moates had to learn another lesson that sports teach better than anything else: teamwork.
“I was fortunate enough to play on a line of amazing guys last year that helped me fix that, as we all constantly relied on each other,” Moates said. “My favorite thing about football is being a part of that team. A football team is truly a brotherhood unlike anything else I have found outside of my own family, and there is no feeling like going out and playing with your brothers.”
As he enters the final year of high school football, Moates is aiming to clear a path for his backs to reach the end zone on a December night in Edmond.
“I think one major goal I have is the same as everyone else, to win a state championship,” Moates said. “Aside from that, I just want to put together great film that shows who I am as a player and the work that I have put in. I am really looking for a university that has a strong team culture and I believe will better me as a player, student and person.”
