![]() From the 13:18 mark until the break, Bates scored every single one of EMU's 29 points, keeping pace with the Rockets until the score was 36-35 at half. (He had one assist, too.) That stat line of 43 total points actually undersells a particular stretch of dominance he enjoyed in the first half. He went six-of-nine from inside the arc, made all four of his free throws, and shot a ridiculous 9-of-14 from long range. In an 84-79 road loss to a good Toledo team, Bates played the entire game and scored more than half of EMU's points. ![]() On Tuesday night, Bates's approach reached apotheosis. But Bates is working hard to make up all those baskets himself, playing all but a few minutes of EMU's non-blowouts and relentlessly taking shot after shot from all over the court. Eastern is just 3-16 this year against D-I opponents, with a 1-6 record so far in the MAC, and their poor-shooting, poor-rebounding offense exposes an unorganized defense that's allowing 81.6 points per game-fourth-worst in all of D-I. He was briefly suspended by his new team in the preseason before taking a plea deal on a gun charge, and now, a few times a week, he steps onto the court in front of a small audience to take a ton of shots for one of the worst teams in college basketball. In Memphis's two tournament games, he scored just eight points across 15 minutes, and by the end of his time there he was vastly overshadowed by his fellow young standout Jalen Duren.īates responded to this disappointment by going home, transferring for his sophomore year to Eastern Michigan. As a 17-year-old, dealing with multiple injuries, he looked well short of a one-and-done lottery pick, averaging 9.7 points, 3.3 boards, and 1.3 assists. Following that season, which was a little less remarkable than the ones before it, Bates de-committed from MSU, reclassified to skip his senior year, and then went to play at Memphis, where he was the youngest player in all of college basketball. Ahead of his junior year, Bates committed to Michigan State and left his public high school to play at a brand new prep academy created by his father, a former D-II player who had a brief pro career in Europe. ![]() Sports Illustrated put him on their cover at age 15, labeling him "next in line" after "Magic, Michael, LeBron." The awards he won through his transcendent offensive abilities kept backing up the hype.įrom that point on, however, Bates's story became significantly more complicated. The Detroit Free Press called him the best freshman ever to play in the state. In middle school, he was rated as one of the best players for his age by people who paid attention to such things, and by the time he was a high school freshman in Ypsilanti, Michigan, he was pegged to be a superstar. It feels like Emoni Bates has lived an entire basketball career before he's turned 19.
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