Four years ago, 14-year-old Emoni Bates was projected as the next great basketball player. He was going to be a generational talent and was hailed as “the next Kevin Durant.”
Between his eighth- and ninth-grade years, Bates scored 43 points on Bronny James’ team with LeBron James watching from the sideline more than impressed. During his sophomore season, he became the youngest player to win the Gatorade National Basketball Player of the Year award. Bates also received high praise from Dwyane Wade, Trae Young, Draymond Green and Jayson Tatum.
“He has all the tools to be a great player,” Tatum told Yahoo Sports. “He’s tall, long, can score from all over the court and has a great feel for the game. He’s the real deal.”
Bates’ high school career was far from normal. He started at Lincoln High School in Ypsilanti, Michigan, and put up incredible numbers his freshman and sophomore seasons, including 63 points and 21 rebounds in a win late in his sophomore year. After his popularity grew to a global status, Nike brought on Bates Fundamental, a league Elgin (EJ) Bates, Emoni’s father, started when Emoni was 4 years old, and gave them prime-time matchups in Nike’s grassroots Elite Youth Basketball League.
During the summer before his junior year, Bates announced he would play college basketball at Michigan State. It was a commitment that seemingly came out of left field, and many doubted he would actually end up playing for Tom Izzo. (He de-committed before the end of his junior season.)
‘Control the narrative’: Emoni Bates’ winding high school path
At the end of the nationally televised commitment, EJ Bates announced he was forming Ypsi Prep Academy where Emoni would play high school basketball. The school operated alongside an unaffiliated charter school in an unmarked rented building in Ypsilanti.
“I want to control the narrative at all time,” EJ Bates told Brendan Quinn of The Athletic. “As long as I can protect him and shield him from as much as I can right now, that’s what me and his mom are going to do.”
Ypsi Prep packed its schedule with games all over the country and played some of the top players and teams on national television. Scouts and grassroots basketball analysts started to doubt Bates’ star status after he went head-to-head with Chet Holmgren, who is currently a top 2022 NBA draft prospect.
Since he was 15, Bates had been touted as the next one up. But on the national stage, Holmgren shined as the better prospect. The 7-footer finished with 31 points, 12 rebounds and six blocks in the win.
“Because of COVID and everything, that was the first time a lot of us got to see Emoni against high-level competition,” one NBA scout told Yahoo Sports. “I walked away from that game more impressed with Holmgren as a future prospect than Bates.”
There was still a ton of fanfare surrounding Bates when he reclassified a year up and committed to play for Penny Hardaway at Memphis alongside another top prospect, Jalen Duren. Even LeBron called Bates and Hardaway a “perfect match,” adding, “[Hardaway] can flat-out relate to [Bates] on all levels and [is going to] let him rock out.”
Memphis mystery: Will Bates finish freshman season?
There are always growing pains for freshmen when they start their college careers. The pace is faster, every player is stronger and more athletic and it takes a couple of games for younger players to get their feet under them. There was even more of a grace period for Bates and Duren, who both technically should be seniors in high school this season.
Duren started to adjust well; Bates did not.
Everything came to a halt late in January when Bates had three straight games scoring in single digits and averaged just 23 minutes per game. His body language on the bench showed how frustrated the former No. 1 high school prospect was.
Four days later, Bates was back home in Michigan and listed as “questionable” for Memphis’ game at Cincinnati. Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer reported “[Bates’] future with the program has suddenly come into question,” and EJ Bates told ESPN’s Jeff Borzello, “He has an appointment to see a specialist back home about his back. He’s been having pain the past three weeks, and we’re going to figure out what’s going on.” The injury was never reported by the coaching or medical staffs.
While Bates was out, Memphis went 10-1 and reignited its NCAA tournament hopes.
There is a small chance Bates will return to the court for Memphis this season. He is back with the team and getting shots up during pregame. Hardaway called him “day-to-day” and added, “Doing 1-on-zero is different from building yourself up [to] getting an actual bump and then hitting the floor.”
Bates’ possible next steps
Where does Bates go from here?
Whether or not he plays in the postseason, his future at Memphis appears murky.
Because he turned 18 on Jan. 28, Bates does not qualify for the 2022 NBA draft and still has to play a year before being eligible for the league. Prior to committing to Memphis, he had a final list of the G League Ignite, Overtime Elite, Australia’s National Basketball League, Michigan State, Oregon, Baylor and Miami.
“After the tough year Emoni’s had, I could see him going pro next year,” one Power Five assistant coach told Yahoo Sports. “There’s a lot of options now for young players, and at just 18, he still has a lot of upside to his game.”
Bates has time to develop. He’s already an elite defender with his 6-foot-9 frame, has a decent handle for his size and can get a good shot off with a hand in his face due to his high release. He needs to work on his shot selection after shooting 38% from the field and 33% from 3-point range this season.
The hype surrounding Bates has cooled drastically during his one season at Memphis. Early 2023 mock drafts still have him as a first-round pick, but it’s a far cry from what he was projected to be in 2018.
Bates is an ultra competitor and whatever the future holds, he’ll have a lot of motivation and something to prove. Maybe this is exactly the year he needed after being under the microscope and trying to live up to the immense pressure of being the next Kevin Durant or LeBron James, instead of just Emoni Bates.