Every Father’s Day, every Christmas - most holidays, really - Pierre Woods sends Percy Bates a text message or e-mail saying hello and thanks again for everything.

Nine years ago, when Woods signed with Michigan out of Cleveland Glenville High and rumors were rampant he wouldn’t make it to campus let alone graduate, Woods sat down with Bates, Michigan’s faculty athletics representative, for a frank admissions interview.

Woods told Bates to give him a chance and promised that if he was accepted and Michigan supported him, the university would never have to worry. Bates agreed, and said he’d help Woods any way he could.

Five years later, after a successful football career and on the eve of graduation, Woods called Bates and asked him to attend his commencement ceremony.

“The guys at the University of Michigan, on the football team, really if they don’t know Percy Bates they should get to know him because he has a lot of credibility up there,” Woods said last week. “He has a lot of pull, he can make things happen. He’s just a great guy to know. A real great guy to know.”

After 20 years as Michigan’s faculty rep and another 25 as a university professor and administrator, Bates will be inducted into the John McLendon Minority Athletics Administrators Hall of Fame this Wednesday in Anaheim, Calif.

This year’s class also includes former NBA head coach Bernie Bickerstaff, nine-time NFL Pro Bowler Michael Haynes, gold-medal decathlete Rafer Johnson and ex-Dodgers pitcher Don Newcombe.

Former Michigan athletic director Tom Goss also will be honored as one of the first black athletic directors to take a program to the Rose Bowl.

“As I look at some of the people that’s gone before me in this Hall of Fame, I had no idea,” Bates said. “It’s a bigger deal than I originally thought because there’s so many things that come along you just say, well, it’s another one of those things. But this one, in terms of the NCAA, at least some of the African-Americans who’ve gone ahead of me, it’s quite an honor as far as I’m concerned.”

As faculty rep, Bates plays a significant if unheralded role in Michigan’s athletic department.

In the NCAA structure, faculty reps are considered one of a university’s top administrators along with president and athletic director. They oversee student-athlete welfare, certify eligibility and ensure the proper balance is struck between athletics and academics.

“For me, the notion is primarily to make sure that student-athletes really get the kind of education that a university can provide in exchange for our use of their athletic ability,” Bates said. “It’s really a trade off, and in my view a contract with the student-athlete.”

A high school track and football player, Bates gravitated towards helping student-athletes after coaching his son in Ann Arbor junior football and recreational basketball.

He served a stint on Michigan’s athletic board under Don Canham beginning in 1977, was appointed to his current position by then-president James Duderstadt in 1990 and spent a term as chair of the NCAA’s Division I Management Council.

And while he’s been to bowl games and NCAA tournaments and countless other events, Bates’ fondest memories of the job have little to do with sports.

In 1999, he attended a conference on integrity in intercollegiate athletics where legendary UCLA coach John Wooden gave an impactful speech. A framed photo of Bates, Wooden and the rest of the group still hangs on Bates’ wall.

And every year like clockwork, Woods and other athletes reach out and remind Bates how much he touched their lives.

“When I think of the successes that I’ve had and things that make me keep doing this, he’s one of the reasons,” Bates said. “I smile every time I get one of these emails that says life is great, I’ve got three kids and you said it would be this way. Finally, it’s sinking in.”

Dave Birkett covers University of Michigan football for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached by phone at 734-623-2552 or by e-mail at davidbirkett@annarbor.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.

Box
Michigan's all-time faculty athletics representatives to the Big Ten

1896 Dr. Joseph Nancrede (Medical School)
1896-1897 Jerome.C. Knowlton (Law School)
1898-1905 Albert .H. Pattengill (LS&A, professor of Greek)
1906-1907 Victor H. Lane (Law School)
1907 Henry M. Bates (Law School)
1908 George W.Patterson (College of Engineering)
1917-1955 Ralph W. Aigler (Law School)
1955-1979 Marcus Plant (Law School)
1979-1982 Tom Anton (Law School)
1981-1990 Gwen Cruzat (Library School)
1983-1989 Paul W. Gikas (Medical School)
1989-1991 Douglas Kahn (Law School)
1990- Percy Bates (School of Education)