No. 1 recruit in all of high school basketball announces commitment to Michigan State
In a surprise move Monday afternoon, the No. 1 prospect in all of high school basketball announced an abrupt end to his recruitment.
Emoni Bates — a 6-foot-8 forward from Ypsilanti, Mich. — committed to Michigan State, the home-state program that has long been seen as a possible favorite to be his college destination. Kentucky had also been mentioned as a possible front-runner for Bates, who is viewed as the top overall player in the 2022 class and widely regarded as the No. 1 recruit in the country, regardless of age.
Bates’ selection of Michigan State was not shocking — he called it his “dream school” earlier this year — but the timing was certainly unexpected. He just turned 16 years old in January, has two seasons of high school remaining, and was not thought to be very far in his college decision-making process.
There has already been ample speculation that Bates might skip college altogether and opt for a professional basketball career straight out of high school, which could still happen despite Monday’s commitment.
Not long ago, the 2022 class was seen as possibly the first that would be allowed to go straight to the NBA Draft, with the league’s “one and done” rule seemingly on the way out, a move that would’ve cleared the way for high schoolers to jump straight to the NBA. If that had happened, Bates would have been the clear front-runner for No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 draft.
That rule change could still take place, but it’s now not as likely to happen by 2022, with various factions in the NBA split over how to best proceed with the draft age requirements. Even if one and done stays in effect beyond 2022, Bates would be a tantalizing prospect for the G League’s revamped preps-to-pros program, and he could also demand a lucrative deal to play for a foreign professional league for one season before becoming NBA Draft-eligible.
Bates seemed to acknowledge the possibility of a preps-to-pros future Monday, when he told ESPN during his announcement ceremony: “I’m not sure what the future may hold, but I do — as of right now — I will be committing to Michigan State University.”
The unexpected and early commitment to Michigan State will also lead to further reclassification rumors for Bates, who won’t turn 17 years old until next January and — if he moved to the class of 2021 — would be remarkably young for a college freshman.
His father told the Detroit News just last week that Bates would not be reclassifying. That’s unlikely to quell the speculation, and Rivals.com national analyst Corey Evans tweeted Monday that he would not be surprised if Bates makes such a move in the future, though he acknowledged no decision has yet been made on the subject.
Earlier this year, Rivals.com ranked Bates as the No. 1 player in all of high school basketball, ranking him ahead of everyone in the 2020 and 2021 classes.
Though he just wrapped up his sophomore year of high school, Bates has established himself as a top name in basketball recruiting circles. His career has been closely followed since his middle school days, and he was on the cover of Sports Illustrated — as a 15-year-old — last fall.
The Associated Press profiled Bates in 2017 — when he was going into his eighth grade year — with the headline “Next One?” and a story that highlighted the hype already surrounding his recruitment and basketball future. Asked about the early front-runners in his recruitment, Bates replied: “Michigan State and Kentucky.”
Earlier this year, he became the first sophomore ever to earn Gatorade national player of the year honors after averaging 32.4 points, 9.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.2 steals per game. LeBron James and Kobe Bryant are past recipients of the award.
Following Bates’ announcement Monday afternoon, 247Sports national analyst Evan Daniels tweeted that he “is the best high school prospect that I’ve evaluated at this stage. Considered the best high school prospect since LeBron James.”
This story was originally published June 29, 2020 at 1:59 PM.
