Great job not even calling him Juwan.
Bates committed to MSU 2 weeks after prospects could be contacted. Juwan calling him or not wouldn't have made a difference. If he goes to college it was always going to be MSU, it literally didn't matter what Juwan did.
This from the article on ESPN:
"Despite being a potentially generational prospect, Michigan State was the only school to consistently recruit Bates during his high school career. Izzo was the only high-major head coach to really pursue Bates, going to his games and staying in contact. June 15 was the first day college coaches could call rising high school juniors -- and the Spartans were the only program to reach out to Bates."
So, great job Coach K, Calipari and all the bag men. That means he's either highly overrated or a slam dunk to go straight to the NBA or G-League. It's probably the latter.
I am confused. I just saw this tweet about something called YpsiAcademy created by Bates.
https://twitter.com/BradGalli/status/1277675121092841478?s=20
Instead of staying in High School. MSU is for after, even though it will never happen. Either the 1-and-done will be a thing of the past by then, or he will just do the Elite prospect / G League thing that is popular now.
But he did say straight up he isn't going to the G League.
It wouldn’t even make sense for him to go to the G League. The amount of exposure he would get in college would be way more valuable in endorsement negotiations than any amount of money a non-NBA league could throw at him. The kid is probably going to get a deal close to $100mil 5 minutes after he leaves college. You think $500k from the G league will attract him?
It’s pretty clear that it’s going to be NBA or msu
No, but $50 million from Adidas the day after he graduates high school might.
Then why would any kid go to the G-League over college? He's still gonna get that same paycheck when he gets to the NBA, he's going to get year round coaching without having to play school or live in East Lansing. He's going to get a (legal) paycheck immediately. Also you do realize they are putting AAU and High school games on TV now? You think with all these 5 star kids going to the G-League, that they aren't going to start to showcase these games? This is the NBA building another TV product as well. NBA TV can now sell ads for the future stars of the league, that companies were paying colleges for. No one watches college basketball until football is over, so the only exposure he's missing out on is basically March and April. And you aren't walking into the league with a built in fanbase, but in 5 years that won't matter that much anyways.
For most kids, yeah, G League is probably a good decision. Start earning your money right away.
Now think about Zion at Duke. You couldn't turn on ESPN without seeing him. He was the face of college basketball - almost every single game was nationally televised. He became a household name - people who know nothing about sports knew who Zion was. When he left college he signed a $75 million shoe deal. No chance he gets that kind of money if he goes to the G League after high school.
Sure, maybe Emoni could get a $50 mil endorsement out of high school and nobody could blame him for doing it - but if he can play nationally televised games a couple times a week and be a National POY-caliber player in college, the value of that first endorsement goes waaaay up.
So you can take the $1mil G League paycheck right now, or don't get paid for a year and drive up your value significantly. Exposure is everything. And don't try to sell me on people watching G League - nobody cares about it. People will always watch college hoops because of school affiliation.
The Zion at Duke analogy falls apart bc the G League then was very different from the G League now
Zion isn't big because he went to Duke. It's because he's a generational talent who had a huge following before he went to Duke. He was already televised..and if he had played in the G-League, he would've drawn eyes to that too.
And Emoni Bates is no Zion. And MSU is no Duke. MSU has regional support, Duke is the premier basketball college in the country with an international following and a coach respected by the greatest NBA players.
You’re ignoring the fact that Izzo can turn any 1 and done into a 6 year player.
That was not a very enthusiastic commitment. I don't expect he'll play any college ball when all is said and done.
But he is taking an online MSU course designed for athletes, "How to ask for a Supervisor"
He's never gonna play a game for MSU.
The worst thing about this is that even after he decides to go pro, MSU fans are still gonna act like he's one of their own and claim him as an alumni like OSU does with LeBron
Like UM does with Derek Jeter? And even Kevin Garnett, but that's a stretch.
Except that no one actually does. It's always in a joking manner
Not so. Jeets is a Michigan Man.
I mean Jeter was enrolled as a student, it's not his fault Steinbrenner threw the bank at him. While it's fun to play whatifs about KG, I've never heard people actually claim him as one of us.
Derek Jeter attended Michigan for a semester.
So did Madonna, but she couldn't hit a curve ball...
There are many good comments to this that would be inappropriate.
Giggety.
Go ahead, the folks here won't mind.
She could hit a curve just fine...
Jeter enrolled and took classes here in the Fall semester and was going to do it again the following year, but the Yankees balked at that plan. I think that officially makes him an alumnus.
Didn't Jeter take classes for a semester at UM?
EDIT: Prolly should've scrolled down a bit before posting.
He will never play a minute for Sparty, and acknowledged as much with his phrasing. Good on Izzo for forging a relationship with the kid that may help them get a few more high-level recruits in the 21 and 22 classes, but Emoni is not playing in college.
He literally started his commitment by saying "as of right now"
That's how all marriage vows should start.
So if he is supposedly not going there and everyone knows it, why the fuck would it help bring in other high level recruits?
Because he may wear some spartan swag on the AAU circuit? It does convey to some kids that MSU is a place a top-level recruit would want to play at, but at this point decades into Tom Izzo's run I can't imagine that's a message that needs to be re-conveyed.
Yeah, not even going to get my hopes up. It's cool that he wore the MSU hat on TV, but I think the only way he ends up at MSU is if the NBA rule change falls through somehow
Well the rule doesn't actually HAVE to change. The Developmental G-League will throw him a ton of money to play there for a year.
Even then he’d have to pass up a huge chunk of money to play for MSU. He would easily garner a large 6 figure salary, plus whatever shoe deal and endorsements he would be able to sign. Would be a financially terrible decision to go to college.
Using the trend of recent rookie shoe deals for top prospects, and the hype for Emoni being larger than anyone else since LeBron, he could probably sign with a major shoe company for upwards of $100 million after finishing HS, even if he isn't playing in the NBA that first season.
That's why he won't play for MSU.
heard Big Baller Brand is looking for the next Big Baller.
6 figures??? The G-League would pony up 7 figures to get Bates for a year. The kid is the best prospect since Lebron. If they’re giving Isaiah Todd $100,000K...Bates is at least worth $2-3M.
Fiddlesticks!
Yeah, NBA doesn't seem like they're changing the 1 and done rule now for at least a few more drafts, so he'll play in college. Long way to go, but he's been a hard MSU lean for a while. If he plays at all in college it will be MSU, but there are still overseas options he may consider.
One thing is that his dad is a no nonsense type guy who doesn't seem like he plays games. He wanted his son to stay at Ypsilanti for his whole high school career and he's doing that.
Nope, guess those plans didn't last long. He's not staying at Ypsi after all.
Is it that easy to open a school? Don't you need, like, other students (dad says he'll get some other top prospects) and a bunch of state/local licensing, in addition to hiring teachers and renting a building? Like IMG is a real school, Deion's Prime Prep (which was a disaster) was still a real school with buildings, teachers, etc.
Short answer is no. It’s pretty easy these days. Harder than it was say 10 years ago, but still easier than it should be.
I thought teacher licensing was fairly substantive, at least, even if school-level licensing was relatively suspect. That's disconcerting.
He doesn't go to Ypsi High, he goes to Lincoln.
He won’t be playing for sparty. And Izzo will never win the second title. I know you have irrational hope for both, but just accept it won’t be happening, little brother.
And how about his change of plans to move to a new high school? Now he will be going to a brand-new prep school created and run by his father. I'm sure he and the other athletes will get an top-notch education there.
Emoni going pro out of high school.
Fuck Sparty!
He's supposed to be good but so are all the other 5* players Izzo wasted.