OT: Emoni Bates Leaving Memphis?
https://spartanswire.usatoday.com/2022/02/02/report-former-msu-basketball-commit-emoni-bates-future-in-flux/
Apparently, just a rumor, but a semi-reputable source. Obviously a lot can still happen in this situation (both good and bad), but if he ends up totally flaming out it will have to be one of the bigger recruiting busts of all time, right? Here in Ann Arbor we have been hearing about this kid as a "can't miss first rounder" since he was in 6th grade.
February 3rd, 2022 at 12:39 PM ^
Who would ever have expected it?
February 3rd, 2022 at 12:41 PM ^
Dona gonna prima.
February 3rd, 2022 at 12:43 PM ^
He really needed another year at his dad's fake high school to develop his body and mind.
February 3rd, 2022 at 2:59 PM ^
Or at the least, transfer to Bishop Sycamore.
I remember hearing about this kid when he was in 6th grade as well. It's too bad this is happening to him. I wish it gets figured out. Feels like a Lavar Ball/Lonzo Ball situation, but with less of the flare.
February 3rd, 2022 at 3:26 PM ^
Emoni should hope it’s a “Lavar Ball / Lonzo Ball” situation. Lonzo has been a starter each of his 5 years in the league, and Lamelo looks like a future all-star.
February 3rd, 2022 at 6:26 PM ^
Nothing like Lavar Ball, he developed two of his kids into top 3 NBA draft picks. Who are both quality NBA players
February 3rd, 2022 at 8:34 PM ^
And that took Balls
February 4th, 2022 at 1:22 PM ^
Nah, staying there wouldnt have helped. Going to a real school be it sunrise or la lum or frickin memphis is still better than sitting there with his dumbass dad and slowly decaying.
February 3rd, 2022 at 12:44 PM ^
I hope he never beats Michigan, but aside from that I wish him the best. He's been living with great expectations for a long time.
February 3rd, 2022 at 12:52 PM ^
I wish MSU took him instead of the Max Christie.
February 3rd, 2022 at 12:52 PM ^
That Penny Hardaway fella can sure coach and develop talent, can't he?
February 3rd, 2022 at 2:58 PM ^
Keepin' it real, the Michigan freshmen aren't exactly rocketing up draft boards.
February 3rd, 2022 at 3:08 PM ^
I mean Houstan was just clearly overrated and Moussa actually is steadily getting draft hype
February 3rd, 2022 at 4:32 PM ^
Emoni was clearly even more overrated. I don't think he has one above average skill and his raptor arms aren't helping him much.
February 3rd, 2022 at 12:52 PM ^
He is a loser. So glad we didn't get involved in that mess.
February 3rd, 2022 at 1:10 PM ^
Say that to his face. Telephone tough tuff guy. ( I know I spelled it wrong. ) P.A.B.
February 3rd, 2022 at 12:54 PM ^
It's a shame how poorly the adults in his situation have failed him. His ego turned out of control after his freshman season at Ypsi Lincoln.
February 3rd, 2022 at 1:10 PM ^
But do the adults have the power, or does the player? It's up to the player, isn't it.
February 3rd, 2022 at 1:12 PM ^
Sure there is personal responsibility, but the adults in his life enabled him, at the very least. With no constraints and feeding the ego, it's not a surprising outcome.
February 3rd, 2022 at 1:16 PM ^
When your own father tells you "Emoni, don't go to that high school anymore. I'm going to set up a new school just for you"- what are you realistically going to do?
I have a friend who taught him in middle school (he went to Clague in Ann Arbor) and she says he was a really good kid. Unfortunately he's gotten some bad advice since then.
February 3rd, 2022 at 7:43 PM ^
Kids are so impressionable and if the adults in their lives give them terrible advice and don't help them develop good coping skills along with their God-given talents, they fall flat on their face. And since no one ever taught them how to learn from failure, they don't know how. As a teacher, I knew a number of super bright kids who flamed out in college because they believed their parents hype of what geniuses they were. When they got to a competitive university and everyone was just as smarter or smarter they didn't stand out anymore, they didn't know how to really apply themselves and they didn't know how to rise from failure. AND their whole identity was tied up with being the smart one to whom it all came easy. This is where a really good coach could make a difference (if Dad isn't still interfering) Honestly, I feel for the kid.
February 3rd, 2022 at 1:24 PM ^
I think its well known his dad is a total helicopter parent. He only went to Ypsi Lincoln because their HC was the dad's best friend. Then his dad creates a new prep school in addition to his AAU team being called "Bates Fundamentals" where he treats other Division 1 prospects like they're expendable toys (kicked Jaden Akins off the team because he wasn't passing Emoni the ball). Then once Emoni began to get exposed in AAU decides to shut him down and go into hiding so his ranking doesn't go down. Several examples where Mr. Bates was living his life off his son's fame, which has led to the situation he's in now.
February 3rd, 2022 at 4:20 PM ^
fundamentals seems misplaced here
February 3rd, 2022 at 1:51 PM ^
When he's a freshman? The parents.
February 3rd, 2022 at 8:07 PM ^
He literally only turned 18 last week. He's a child.
February 3rd, 2022 at 1:33 PM ^
He was looked at as a money maker and a career enhancer first, and a human second or even lower. It's sad the adults in his life looked at him as a lottery winning ticket
February 3rd, 2022 at 1:45 PM ^
As a Lincoln district parent, it was amazing to see the kind of energy the championship team brought to the district and the community. We don't really have a lot going on, especially regarding high school athletics. It was a real shame that his dad decided his talents were best served elsewhere.
February 3rd, 2022 at 2:07 PM ^
Lincoln's athletic facilities are head-and-shoulders above the Ann Arbor schools. No way we could have raised the money to build a massive indoor fieldhouse like you guys have. Is that all from Emoni-Monies?
February 3rd, 2022 at 2:25 PM ^
I honestly have no idea. I'm not usually one to complain about athletic department budgets, but we have a constant shortage of busses, bus drivers, regular and substitute teachers... but we built that thing.
February 3rd, 2022 at 2:29 PM ^
I live in Ann Arbor and coached travel sports as well as watched my kids play high school sports and I will say that almost every town outside Ann Arbor must spend more on sports facilities than Ann Arbor does. I think a variety of factors goes into this but I am pretty sure the "It Just Means More" motto applies to a large degree.
I was amazed at the number of parents I've met who believed youth sports was their kid's ticket to college and were spending thousands/year to try to make sure they got a scholarship.
February 3rd, 2022 at 3:28 PM ^
AAPS is the first district I've worked in where I don't have to buy school supplies though. I wonder if these are related.
February 3rd, 2022 at 6:40 PM ^
Maybe true regarding Saline which looks more like a junior college campus.
When Skyline came on board there was no real money to plow into Huron or Pioneer. Skyline's athletic facilities are/were beautiful.
Dexter won state championships swimming in a pool that looked it belonged in a Holiday Inn because they wanted and got a very nice performing arts Auditorium.
February 3rd, 2022 at 8:12 PM ^
Lincoln's new fieldhouse is beautiful, but otherwise their athletic facilities aren't particularly great (nor is their high school building).
They built the athletic building mostly to compete with Saline. Lincoln has lost a lot of students to Saline over the years, both for academic and athletic reasons. It was thought that the athletic building could at least slow down the latter.
February 3rd, 2022 at 9:56 PM ^
From what I've heard, Lincoln and Huron are pulling kids from Ypsi to make up for losing kids to Saline. Poor Ypsi is at the bottom of the School of Choice Arms Race.
February 3rd, 2022 at 2:01 PM ^
One adult, his father. He should have let someone else coach his kid instead insulating the kid from real coaching and development.
February 3rd, 2022 at 12:56 PM ^
He's a dude who is obviously just passing time until he's eligible for the NBA, and the G-League is probably the best place for that.
February 3rd, 2022 at 1:01 PM ^
Basically, just killing time
February 3rd, 2022 at 1:00 PM ^
A few things:
- His father says he's going to see a doctor for a back injury (and that he'll be back with the team), not that he's left the program or anything.
- People talk about Caleb Houstan being young, but Emoni Bates is a year younger and already in college.
- And, he's not even doing badly at Memphis so this feels like a long way off from being "one of the bigger recruiting busts of all time".
February 3rd, 2022 at 1:13 PM ^
- Has worse athletic combine testing results than Luka Garza.
- Shooting 38% from the field this season.
- 42 turnovers to 23 assists with a 90 ORTG.
Not sure what qualifies "not even doing badly" on your end, but for a kid who was tabbed as the next LeBron it's safe to say that he is indeed learning towards one of the bigger recruiting busts of all time.
February 3rd, 2022 at 1:19 PM ^
Yeah, I had no interest in piling on the kid, but shooting 38% for 10 points a game on super high usage is...not great...
February 3rd, 2022 at 1:37 PM ^
Sorry for the crappy formatting, but his stats are comparable to two fellow 5-stars who play for Michigan:
GP MIN PTS REB AST STL BLK TO FG% FT% 3P%
Player A 16 25.4 10.4 3.6 1.4 0.6 0.4 2.6 38.6 64.6 32.9
Player B 19 31.4 10.5 4.5 1.3 0.7 0.3 1.8 40.5 73.6 35.6
Player C 18 22.9 9 6.3 0.8 0.3 0.8 1.4 56.3 62.3 27.3
I don't see many people writing off Houstan (player B) or Diabate (player C) nor saying they're huge busts. 'Not being one of the better players ever' is very different than 'being the biggest bust ever.'
February 3rd, 2022 at 1:46 PM ^
I must've missed Caleb Houstan and Moussa Diabate's Sports Illustrated cover at 15, tabbed with headlines like this:
February 3rd, 2022 at 1:54 PM ^
Great minds, etc., etc...
February 3rd, 2022 at 1:53 PM ^
I looked for covers of SI and Slam featuring Diabate and Houstan, but couldn't seem to find them ;-)
Listen, I am not at all trying to shred Bates. But given the level of hype that has followed him since he was in his single digits, performing at the same level as Houstan or Diabate (actually, well below Houstan) is pretty telling. This time last year, everyone was wondering if he would go to the G League for a minute and then go NBA lottery pick shortly thereafter. We are pretty far from that now, I would say...
February 3rd, 2022 at 2:10 PM ^
A year ago, no one was talking about Emoni skipping his last year of HS and playing college ball a year early. He may well be the youngest player in major college ball. Let him stay in his class and his freshman year would look a lot better.
February 3rd, 2022 at 2:19 PM ^
There was a fair amount of chatter that he'd reclassify. It wasn't a huge shock.
I don't know how different things would be. Another year at Ypsi Prep probably wouldn't have done him much good. His stats last year were pretty rough.
February 3rd, 2022 at 2:53 PM ^
Sure, but that's still a far cry from the "biggest bust ever".
February 3rd, 2022 at 2:07 PM ^
There is a pretty big difference between Bates and Diabate statistically.
Diabate with: twice the rebound rate, twice the blocks, half the turnovers and 20% better FG%. That's way better than Bates.
February 3rd, 2022 at 2:29 PM ^
I mean people are killing Houstan and people expect he'll be around for awhile to see him develop. Bates has a higher usage, worse numbers and is only expected to be around for about a year. So he's having a worse year than our freshmen and having a much worse year with regards to expectations.
February 3rd, 2022 at 1:01 PM ^
Kid is a mess. Choosing Memphis was so stupid.