[1] Bates attended Archbishop Wood Catholic High School in Warminster Township, Pennsylvania.

[2] He played offensive tackle with the Archbishop Wood Vikings whom he helped win the 2013 PIAA Class AAA Championship finishing with a 13-2 record.

Bates and the Vikings won the PIAA Class AAA Championship for a consecutive time during the 2014 season.

In his junior season Bates was named the 2014 Pennsylvania Football News Lineman of the Year.

[1] Bates also earned Under Armour All-America Game selection honors during his senior season in 2015 while also serving as co-captain.

He received numerous recruitment offers from universities including Virginia, Temple, Rutgers, Pittsburgh, Ohio State, Miami, Maryland, Duke, Boston College, Auburn, Georgia Tech, Illinois, South Carolina and Penn State.