Emoni Bates to Eastern Michigan
Best of luck. Hopefully he learned something from all of this.
This could actually be really good for him. I am sure some people with drag him, but he will get all the run he wants and will get to be the focus of the offense. Maybe the perfect answer to get "right" in his head, it has never seemed like a talent issue but more of a crazy high expectations that can lead to entitlement.
I hope he does well and grows into his potential.
I actually see it the other way. I thought coming to a place like Michigan (or maybe somewhere stable, but further from home) was the best case for him. Some place with strong leadership and great culture.
Now I just see him being the big man on campus, still close to people hanging on, trying to get their piece if him, etc.
He'll be enabled on and off the court. I hope for the best, I really hate that he's gotten such a bad reputation. There's still plenty of time.
This is where I would've loved to have seen him play for the great John Thompson (RIP) and go to Georgetown. That feels like right set-up for a kid like Bates.
This could be good for EMU.
This could also be terrible for EMU.
Either way, it won't be boring.
This is only good for EMU. He will draw an audience, something they don't currently have. They might get a little tv run out of this. This kid was once considered to be the best player in the country, regardless of class playing in the city he grew up in. This is great for EMU and Ypsi
The worst case scenario for EMU is the basketball team just keeps being bad. It's hard to imagine this being too terrible for EMU.
How could it be bad for EMU? Even if he creates drama and flames out, how are they worse off than their current situation?
In other words, what do they have to lose?
George Gervin is the only EMU basketball player whose name comes to mind without checking the internet and he played there like 50 years ago.
Huge Earl Boykins disrespect.
Crazy that they beat Duke by 15 in the NCAA that year
If I recall correctly that was the year Coach K had a bad back and let all the losses from a worse-than-usual team hang on an assistant.
That was the year before. The EMU game was during his first year back.
Then they changed their name from Hurons to the generic Eagles and it has been all downhill for them since.
Swear to god, Jim Harbaugh sat next to me at the EMU-Duke game. It was played at the Colt's dome and he wandered in and took an empty seat for a half. Still have the EMU NCAA tourney hat with his autograph.
Not to mention Grant Long
Earl Boykins was unreal.
Lorenzo Neely was a solid player.
How could you forget Earl Boykins!
Derrick Dial is calling long distance.
Unless he creates off-court problems (which I suppose is possible), this is very low risk but potentially very high reward for EMU. I don't know much about their basketball program but a quick Wikipedia search shows me that they haven't made the tournament at any point in this millennium. Looks like they've had a few winning seasons but they still largely have nothing to show for it, so its not like he can really set their program back without some big off-court scandal.
Meanwhile, he could be a missing piece that gets them over the hump and into the tournament. If nothing else, he'll put butts in seats for a little bit.
Ha! I laughed hard, which is a rarity. Good work!
If he only knew.
Jaquan Hart
Is it wrong to find this whole saga funny?
I think this is awesome. Hometown kid at EMU. I hope he has a Larry Bird at Indiana State experience where he elevates EMU to a ridiculous level for a year and get the Finals (losing to Michigan of course.)
I am now an Emoni Bates fan.
(For all of the people critical of the circus surrounding him, I hope the circus learned a lesson rather than Emoni.)
the Brawl for Washtenaw
F*ck... That's good... EMU vs. UofM for the national championship has to happen just so I can say that repeatedly. Nice work.
This is quite interesting.
He is undoubtedly a tremendous talent, but his baggage is so much that there is not a single major school who would (1) take a risk on him, and (2) have room for him.
I find that crazy!
Same here. His entourage must smell really bad.
To a very different degree, I found it interesting that no Power Five school apparently bit on Antoine Davis, who wound up back at Detroit Mercy.
My mom and dad met at UofD (before Mercy), so I go to some UofD games from time to time with my dad. My amateur assessment: Antoine Davis is best fit for lesser leagues where he can crush it. He's an overall small, but shifty, player that would have a very hard time in a conference like the B10.
Plus, Antoine can continue to play for is father at UDM.
Michigan loses another player because of awful NIL program!!!!!!!!1111!!!
Wish him luck - feels like he'll do well at EMU (and hopefully make them more competitive in the MAC) but I can see why a bunch of programs sort of passed on him given the past couple of years. I do think if healthy he'll play himself into the first round.
T-Rex arms found a home finally? Hopefully he does good things at EMU
FIRE HARBAUGH
FIRE WARDE
HELL REFIRE
BACKICH
Good match for both of them. I hope he gets his future back on track, and EMU will get a caliber of player that is far beyond what they normally can. I hope the adults in his life have gained some important perspective, too.
So where can I place a bet for eastern to win the Mac regular season?
The internet.
“Everywhere” would have also been an acceptable answer.
If the payouts are stupid high putting $10 on it might be worth it. However, feels like a fools bet to me, unless the roster changes significantly, Bates would have to account for a +12 in the win column. That's a tall task when a team got blown out in most of their games last season.
I mean he was considered the greatest player in hs for awhile across all classes. Someone of that caliber absolutely should be able to take a team to the top of that league. If he doesn’t dominate the MAC then what NBA team is using a first round pick on him?
When he was a 9th or 10th grader he was going to be the next Lebron...
takes way too many plays off. if you ever watched him play ,hes basically the last man back on defense and hes always trying to sneak out for the fast break and gets burnt on this often ,.. i think playing the all star circuit around the country brought him back to reality ---very good player ,but not "what he and his peers thought he was"
He was in the American Athletic Conference last season. It's a step up from the MAC, mostly because of Houston and Memphis, but not a huge leap.
Cook commits to Texas. Just fyi
The best players in Michigan....eventually come back to Michigan, even if its Eastern.
What if they are 5 star QBs? Asking for a grandson.
Lions first round draft pick?
unless something changes, he'll be in spartan stadium his senior season (assuming he redshirts)
Kinda hope they are on the early season schedule.
This makes it pretty clear to me that no one else was willing to play ball with the demands of Emoni's entourage.
First he wanted Michigan, then he wanted Louisville, then he was going back to Memphis, and instead he lands at EMU. It's a worthwhile gamble for Stan Heath because they're probably going to suck anyway, so even if Emoni is a total disaster it's not like they really lost anything.