Washington State University Athletics

Stan Bates is remembered by thousands of people in the West for his outstanding service to education and athletics as a coach, high school principal, college admission officer, director of athletics and conference commissioner. He earned 10 varsity letters in three sports at the University of Puget Sound and later coached at Monroe High School and was a coach and principal at Snohomish High School. Bates joined the Washington State faculty in 1953 as associate director of admissions and a year later was named athletic director, a post he held for the next 17 years. He served on numerous NCAA committees. From 1971-80, he was the commissioner of the Western Athletic Conference and the scholar-athlete award for the conference is named in his honor. Bates is a member of the Inland Northwest Sports Hall of Fame.