Michigan State Basketball: Why Emoni Bates should choose Spartans
By Ryan Kay
No. 3. Staying Home has its appeal
Bates never left the state of Michigan to play his high school basketball. Other top basketball players left the state of Michigan to play at a prep school or another school in another state.
Name Started playing in Michigan Ended playing out of state
Devin Booker Grandville (Grandville, Michigan) Moss Point (Moss Point, Mississippi)
Miles Bridges Flint Southwestern (Flint, Michigan) Huntington Prep School, West Virginia
Josh Jackson Consortium College Prep School Justin-Siena (Napa, California)
Brian Bowen Arthur Hill (Saginaw, Michigan) La Lumiere School (La Porte, Indiana)
Bates after playing his sophomore season at Lincoln High School in Ypsilanti his father E.J. Bates started the Ypsi Prep Academy just over three miles away. Bates played his junior year there before reclassifying. He could have played at a prep school out of state but he chose to play for his father’s school in the state of Michigan.
Oregon and Memphis are not anywhere near Ypsilanti, Michigan and what team he plays on in the NBA G League if he chooses that route is anyone’s guess, so playing in East Lansing, Michigan may be a viable option.
No. 4. National Exposure and the NIL
No disrespect to the NBA G League but more people watch college basketball. Bates going to Michigan State gets him a lot of exposure playing in the Big Ten and playing in premier non-conference basketball games. Here for example would be some of the non-conference games he would play in at Michigan State in his first two months of the upcoming season.
*Plays Kansas in the Champions Classic in New York City
*Plays at Butler in the Gavitt Tipoff Games
*Plays Loyola Chicago in the Battle for Atlantis and then plays the winner of Auburn and UConn and finally could play defending national champion Baylor in the championship game
*Plays Louisville in the ACC–Big Ten Challenge
*Plays Oakland at the Little Ceasars Arena the home of the Detriot Pistons
Also, the Spartans play every Big Ten at least once and the Michigan State is very likely to play in the NCAA Tournament where the Spartans had made it to the NCAA Tournament for the 23rd time last season and only Kansas and a long active NCAA Tournament streak. In comparison, you can stream NBA G League games but not many NBA G League are broadcasted on CBS, ABC, FOX, or even ESPN. Michigan State games are often televised on ABC, FOX, CBS, ESPN, and if not, on the Big Ten Network.
The Name, Image, and Likeness rules that the NCAA went into effect have made certain top-tier prospects think twice about playing professionally after high school and playing a year of college. An example of this is when Jalen Duren decided to play collegiate basketball.
https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1423774053089824769
The state of Michigan along with the new NIL NCAA rule would allow Bates to earn money while playing college basketball. Due to his popularity, he could make considerable money off of his name, image, and likeness through major endorsements.
Lastly, Bates would by far be the number one option in the Spartans offense this upcoming season as Aaron Henry left for the NBA after last season. He would be the main focus of the Michigan State offense and he would be able to showcase his talents on national television weekly.
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Many basketball experts have written the Spartans off when it comes to the possibility of Bates playing at Michigan State this Fall but the reasons listed in this article gives the Spartans at least a chance and a legitimate possibility of maybe Bates playing for the green and white this upcoming season.