Two years ago to the day, Emoni Bates committed to Michigan State as the top recruit in the country in the class of 2022. Now the Memphis transfer is returning to his old stomping grounds to play at Eastern Michigan.
"I’m coming home," Bates told On3 Sports after choosing Eastern Michigan on Wednesday over the likes of Michigan, Louisville and Arkansas.
Compared to Kevin Durant at the age of 15, Bates drew such huge crowds at Lincoln High in Ypsilanti that his team played some of its games in the nearby Eastern Michigan basketball arena. In 2020, he was the first sophomore ever to be named Gatorade National Player of the Year.
After graduating early, he decommitted from Michigan State and chose Penny Hardaway and Memphis as one of the top recruits in the class of 2021.
But Bates had an underwhelming season relative to expectations and missed several games due to a back injury. Not that it really hurt his stock. He was the top player in college basketball's loaded transfer portal after averaging 9.7 points and 3.3 rebounds per game at Memphis.
Now he's headed to a program that hasn't made the NCAA Tournament or produced an NBA draft pick this century. But the 18-year-old is still rife with potential. The NBA is still likely in his future. If Bates lives up to the hype next season, it could make for one hell of a story in his hometown.
“People probably look at me crazy because I’m considering Eastern,” he said in an interview prior to picking the Eagles. “But if I went there, I would be like the neighborhood hero. I used to play at Eastern in my high school games when I was at Lincoln, and we used to pack it out every time. That would be crazy for me to be able to bring love to the city.”
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