Springdale duo wins 5NEWS Co-Athlete of the Week

SPRINGDALE, Ark. — Springdale High School's forward Cy Bates feels that his energy isn't totally up to par, but the Bulldogs team feels differently.

“I feel like we got to get some kinetic static energy about us. I feel like we don't have that right now,” Bates said. 

With Bates and Isaiah Sealy, who was named 53rd overall top basketball recruits for 2025 by 247 Sports, on the floor together, the two are pretty hard to stop. According to their coach, "They're kind of [like] thunder and lightning." 

However, Sealy has been on the bench with an injury for the last couple of weeks, causing Bates to step up.

“Cy is having to contribute more and he likes that he doesn't shy away from that, you know, he wants to be good at everything he does. And he's put in a lot of time working towards that,” Bulldogs head coach Jeremy Price said.

But, Sealy will be back soon and dominating like he used to as many recruiters all across the country has seen him average 20 points per game and 8 boards. He already has offers from the University Arkansas, University of Oklahoma, Missouri State University, University of Mississippi, and more. With others likely to follow, Sealy said he's enjoying the recruitment process.

“100% open right now, but recruiting has been going well and hopefully will get better on the way up," Sealy said.

“I think as he continues to grow and develop ... I see him being wanted by by almost everybody by the end of this,” Price said. 

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When the duo isn’t on the court, Bates and Sealy are always together and that translates to more in-game success

“We’re always together. We try to be as much as together off the court so we can get that bond. And yeah, we're just as family,” Sealy said about his relationship with Bates.

But their main mission is to lead their team to the state title, avenging last year's loss.

“Hopefully we go back to the state championship [and] winning conference for sure. That's gonna be pretty hard but we just got to push through.” Sealy said about the team's goals.

“I have to keep on leading the team so we can get to the championship game and win this time,” Bates added. 

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