Michigan State Basketball: Impact of No. 1 recruit Emoni Bates commitment
By Ryan Kay
Michigan State Basketball received a commitment from Emoni Bates, their most highly rated recruit in their program’s history.
In a surprise announcement, Emoni Bates who is the No. 1 ranked player in the country for the 2022 class announced his decision to play for Michigan State Basketball live on ESPN. It has long been rumored that he would eventually commit to the Spartans if he chose to attend college as opposed to going right from high school to the new G League program in the NBA.
The surprise was that no one reported yesterday or during this past week that he was going to announce his decision to commit to Michigan State but that he made his commitment today. However, regardless of it being a surprise to journalists and fans, as he said during his interview with ESPN, he is looking forward to becoming a Spartan.
https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1277664947556814853
Bates has been talked about as the best high school player since Lebron James and has also been compared to Michael Jordan and another famous Spartan Magic Johnson. Others have proclaimed that he is the next Kevin Durant. Regardless of who he may be compared to, there is little to no double that Bates will be the most anticipated and highly talked about and discussed recruit coming out of high school since Zion Williamson. The biggest question remains will he play a year of college basketball like Durant and Williamson or will he go directly to the NBA like James and Kobe Bryant? As of now, it appears playing one year of college basketball is the most likely decision, and here is why.
Emoni Bates on the G-League: "It's good for certain players. That's a lot of money. I don't really plan on, I don't think I'll do it. It's good for some people, but I don't think I'll head that route."
— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) June 29, 2020
He said he would rather play college basketball than go to the G League.
Many may disagree with the assumption that Bates will attend Michigan State and play a year of college basketball similar to what Durant did at Texas. However, anyone who has followed Bates or who has had the opportunity to interview him has not come out and said he is 100% or highly likely to go straight high school to the NBA. He has not left the state of Michigan to go to a prep school out of state like others who have gone straight to the NBA or played overseas have done and his father speaks very highly of Coach Izzo and his staff.
In October of 2019, after an interview with SI.com, it was predicted that he would attend Michigan State. Things may change and he may choose the NBA G League program but as of now, it appears he is more than likely to attend Michigan State as a student-athlete. If he does end up playing at Michigan State, what will be his impact on Michigan State and Izzo’s program?
Emoni Bates, who just announced a commitment to Michigan State, is the best high school prospect that I’ve evaluated at this stage. Considered the best high school prospect since LeBron James.
— Evan Daniels (@EvanDaniels) June 29, 2020
If he indeed reclassifies to the 2021 class and with his decision to play high school basketball in Michigan for the upcoming season, it appears more and more likely that he will have a huge impact if he ends up choosing to attend Michigan State in the Fall of 2021. Bates with the core group of players and new recruits for Coach Izzo and the Spartans for the 2021-2022 season, Michigan State would be by a wide margin the favorites to win the national championship in 2022.
His potential impact on the Spartan program would be felt greatly in many different areas. His impact on other potential recruits committing to Michigan State can not be overlooked and Izzo having a transformative highly talented player would highly increase Michigan State’s chances of winning a national championship similar to the impact Magic Johnson had when he brought home a national championship to East Lansing back in 1979. Either way, Bates and Michigan State are a great fit.
You can never predict the future and 2020 has proven anything can happen. However, Bates’s commitment to Michigan State will be greatly felt in East Lansing rather he ends up attending Michigan State or not. Many times before, Izzo has lost highly-rated recruits to other “Blue Blood” programs and has lost other recruits from places like Chicago. This time, he received a commitment from a student-athlete who could have played at any university in America.
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It is not that Izzo hasn’t received a commitment from highly sought after recruits like Miles Bridges and Jaren Jackson Jr., but this is on the level of when former Michigan State coach Jud Heathcode convinced Magic Johnson to come to Michigan State. Bates’ national announcement on ESPN that he will be committing to play and be a student-athlete at Michigan State University will be felt for many years to come.