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Andre Kates brings hunger and talent to ASA
By Zachary Braziller August 18, 2009
Andre Kates doesn’t have a simple explanation for what brought him to ASA College in downtown Brooklyn. Why he considered quitting football. The reason he is at his second junior college nearly three years after verbally committing to play for the University of Florida his senior year at Surrattsville High School, just outside of Washington, D.C.
There were many factors involved that knocked him off his path to stardom – particularly the troubles his mother, Priscilla, battled, and his personal problems academically.
At this point, those issues are behind the talented and speedy 6-foot cornerback.
One year after excelling at Eerie Community College in Buffalo, the 21-year-old from the nation’s capital has found a new home, a school entering its first year with a football program.
It is one – built from the ground up by Dennis Orlando – that is blessed with high-end talent and an experienced coaching staff. The group assembled by Orlando places as much emphasis in the classroom, which cost Kates the scholarship to Florida, as the weight room and football field.
“This is the type of program,” Kates said, “I like.”
The feeling is mutual. Orlando praised Kates for his ability on the football field and leadership off of it. Orlando was pleasantly surprised by his work habits, calling Kates a gym rat that loves watching game film and is always in his office. Backup quarterback Damir Djukanovic said the defensive back is the smartest he has seen.
“He’s very determined to improve,” Orlando said.
Since starring at Surrattsville at quarterback, it has been a long journey for Kates, the first cousin of Washington Redskins star running back Clinton Portis. He committed to Florida with lifelong friend Joe Haden his senior year, the two expecting to star next to one another for four years.
But as the year neared an end, Kates had a queasy feeling about his future. He knew his grades weren’t up to par; he passed in school, he said, because he was a star. Kates was the player classmates sought out for autographs, who teachers approached in the hallways with a smile.
“I had too much stuff going on,” he said.
He received a 1030 SAT score out of 1600, but his average was too low. He failed to pass the NCAA Clearinghouse. He had prepared to go the junior college route, attending a school in California.
He stayed back home, instead, finding odd jobs to help support his mother, who was going through a rough period in her life.
At the same time, Hayden became a standout defensive back as a freshman for Florida. Kates saw his buddy in magazines and on television. When he came Home, Hayden wore Gator apparel.
“That could be me,” Kates thought to himself.
That spring, Kates stopped thinking like that. He gave up on football for close to a month, even registering for classes at nearby Coppin State, who didn’t have a program. He worked as a little league football coach and did work around the house to stya busy.
“I thought I was done,” he said. “I was going to quit.”
Luckily, at his lowest points, when he saw no light at the end of the tunnel, Hayden remained in his ear, begging him not to give it up. There was Portis, his cousin the NFL star, telling him the same thing.
“I made it; you can make it also,” Portis would say.
That summer he worked out with Portis, and University of Miami alums Santana Moss and Edgerrin James, who told him the same thing: “You can be in the NFL one day.”
Kates decided to give it another try, withdrawing from Coppin State to save NCAA eligibility. He enlisted at Eerie, but as a defensive back, not at quarterback. It was an idea suggested to him by Ohio State defensive coordinator Luke Fickell, who recruited him in high school.
Kates excelled at Eerie, leading the team with 49 tackles, 38 of the solo variety, three interceptions, and two blocked kicks. He was named to the All-Northeast Conference first team.
He decided to leave to be closer to home. Plus, Eerie didn’t offer scholarships of any kind. ASA did.
These days, he couldn’t be happier. Kates carries a smile, the kind that nobody could miss when he was tearing up opposing defenses at Surrattsville. He is the third-highest rated cornerback in the nation, according to Rivals.com, adjusting quickly to the new position. It has taken a lot to get used to, backpedaling on every play while staying low to the ground, reading run or pass, knowing when to jump a route, when to play it safe.
His background as a quarterback, he said, has helped. He knows what routes to except wide receiver to run, what tricks they may utilize to counter his speed.
“Andre, he’s a ready made physical specimen,” said Orlando, who sent players to Division I schools Illinois, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Michigan State, Tulane, Minnesota, North Carolina State and West Virginia, Pittsburgh, including Larry Fitzgerald, while at Valley Forge Military Academy in Wayne, Pa. “We just got to get his grades up and get him more experience at the position. He can definitely plug in and start for somebody immediately at the Division I level.”
He has received offers from over 20 BCS schools, including Miami, Oklahoma State, UCLA, Indiana, Maryland and Baylor.
He doesn’t plan to decide on a school until after the season. In fact, he is more concerned now with his present rather than his future. He wants to raise the 3.3 GPA he received at Eerie, continue to hone his technique while serving as a leader for his younger teammates.
“My biggest goal is to make it to a bowl game and go undefeated,” he said. “I want to lead other guys to go Division I.”
Most importantly, Kates said he has learned from the last two years. From his days as a high-school star and the times he thought he wouldn’t play another organized game on the gridiron.
“I don’t want the same thing to happen again,” he said.
zbraziller@fiveborosports.com
There were many factors involved that knocked him off his path to stardom – particularly the troubles his mother, Priscilla, battled, and his personal problems academically.
At this point, those issues are behind the talented and speedy 6-foot cornerback.
One year after excelling at Eerie Community College in Buffalo, the 21-year-old from the nation’s capital has found a new home, a school entering its first year with a football program.
It is one – built from the ground up by Dennis Orlando – that is blessed with high-end talent and an experienced coaching staff. The group assembled by Orlando places as much emphasis in the classroom, which cost Kates the scholarship to Florida, as the weight room and football field.
“This is the type of program,” Kates said, “I like.”
The feeling is mutual. Orlando praised Kates for his ability on the football field and leadership off of it. Orlando was pleasantly surprised by his work habits, calling Kates a gym rat that loves watching game film and is always in his office. Backup quarterback Damir Djukanovic said the defensive back is the smartest he has seen.
“He’s very determined to improve,” Orlando said.
Since starring at Surrattsville at quarterback, it has been a long journey for Kates, the first cousin of Washington Redskins star running back Clinton Portis. He committed to Florida with lifelong friend Joe Haden his senior year, the two expecting to star next to one another for four years.
But as the year neared an end, Kates had a queasy feeling about his future. He knew his grades weren’t up to par; he passed in school, he said, because he was a star. Kates was the player classmates sought out for autographs, who teachers approached in the hallways with a smile.
“I had too much stuff going on,” he said.
He received a 1030 SAT score out of 1600, but his average was too low. He failed to pass the NCAA Clearinghouse. He had prepared to go the junior college route, attending a school in California.
He stayed back home, instead, finding odd jobs to help support his mother, who was going through a rough period in her life.
At the same time, Hayden became a standout defensive back as a freshman for Florida. Kates saw his buddy in magazines and on television. When he came Home, Hayden wore Gator apparel.
“That could be me,” Kates thought to himself.
That spring, Kates stopped thinking like that. He gave up on football for close to a month, even registering for classes at nearby Coppin State, who didn’t have a program. He worked as a little league football coach and did work around the house to stya busy.
“I thought I was done,” he said. “I was going to quit.”
Luckily, at his lowest points, when he saw no light at the end of the tunnel, Hayden remained in his ear, begging him not to give it up. There was Portis, his cousin the NFL star, telling him the same thing.
“I made it; you can make it also,” Portis would say.
That summer he worked out with Portis, and University of Miami alums Santana Moss and Edgerrin James, who told him the same thing: “You can be in the NFL one day.”
Kates decided to give it another try, withdrawing from Coppin State to save NCAA eligibility. He enlisted at Eerie, but as a defensive back, not at quarterback. It was an idea suggested to him by Ohio State defensive coordinator Luke Fickell, who recruited him in high school.
Kates excelled at Eerie, leading the team with 49 tackles, 38 of the solo variety, three interceptions, and two blocked kicks. He was named to the All-Northeast Conference first team.
He decided to leave to be closer to home. Plus, Eerie didn’t offer scholarships of any kind. ASA did.
These days, he couldn’t be happier. Kates carries a smile, the kind that nobody could miss when he was tearing up opposing defenses at Surrattsville. He is the third-highest rated cornerback in the nation, according to Rivals.com, adjusting quickly to the new position. It has taken a lot to get used to, backpedaling on every play while staying low to the ground, reading run or pass, knowing when to jump a route, when to play it safe.
His background as a quarterback, he said, has helped. He knows what routes to except wide receiver to run, what tricks they may utilize to counter his speed.
“Andre, he’s a ready made physical specimen,” said Orlando, who sent players to Division I schools Illinois, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Michigan State, Tulane, Minnesota, North Carolina State and West Virginia, Pittsburgh, including Larry Fitzgerald, while at Valley Forge Military Academy in Wayne, Pa. “We just got to get his grades up and get him more experience at the position. He can definitely plug in and start for somebody immediately at the Division I level.”
He has received offers from over 20 BCS schools, including Miami, Oklahoma State, UCLA, Indiana, Maryland and Baylor.
He doesn’t plan to decide on a school until after the season. In fact, he is more concerned now with his present rather than his future. He wants to raise the 3.3 GPA he received at Eerie, continue to hone his technique while serving as a leader for his younger teammates.
“My biggest goal is to make it to a bowl game and go undefeated,” he said. “I want to lead other guys to go Division I.”
Most importantly, Kates said he has learned from the last two years. From his days as a high-school star and the times he thought he wouldn’t play another organized game on the gridiron.
“I don’t want the same thing to happen again,” he said.
zbraziller@fiveborosports.com