Tag: emoni bates

4-star MSU Basketball recruiting target Jaden Akins joining Emoni Bates at Ypsi Prep Academy

Michigan State recruiting target 4-star Jaden Akins will reportedly be joining Jaden Akins at the Ypsi Prep Academy.

[jwplayer rDH0bFZm]

The biggest sports story of the day belonged to Michigan State on Monday as the top high school basketball prospect, Emoni Bates, announced that he would be committing to Michigan State Basketball. That wasn’t Bates’ only announcement though. Bates also announced that he would be leaving Ypsilanti Lincoln High School to form Ypsi Prep Academy. According to Brad Galli of WXYZ, 4-star point guard and MSU recruiting target Jaden Akins will be joining Bates at the newly formed Prep school.

There have been multiple reports that Michigan State is currently in the lead to land the Farmington High School point guard Akins, and playing with the highest profile recruit in modern MSU history is definitely another good sign for the Spartans.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Michigan State basketball coaches didn’t know Emoni Bates was committing until Monday morning

Coaches had no idea a commitment was pending until rumors started Monday morning.

Emoni Bates you sly dog.

The number one high school basketball prospect committed to Michigan State on Monday afternoon and according to The Athletic’s Brendan Quinn the MSU coaches didn’t know it was happening until rumors started swirling Monday morning.

Those rumors originated on an MSU message board. For those that don’t know, rumors are always swirling on college message boards and are usually wrong. These ones however weren’t and Bates committed to the Spartans on a 1:45 p.m. SportsCenter appearance.

Kudos to the message boards and kudos to the Bates family for keeping the news under wraps.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1363]

2022 No. 1 prospect Emoni Bates officially commits to Michigan State

Bates chose Michigan State over other programs such as Duke, Kentucky and Florida State among others.

[jwplayer E3BS7M6O]

Five-star prospect, and the top-ranked player in the Class of 2022, Emoni Bates will be attending Michigan State University, he announced Monday afternoon on SportsCenter.

Bates is considered to be perhaps the top high school prospect in over a decade and has often been compared to Kevin Durant. He chose Michigan State over other programs such as Duke, Kentucky and Florida State among others.

Bates, of Lincoln High School in Ypsilanti, Michigan, this year became the first sophomore to be named the Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year. The 6-foot-9 forward led the Railsplitters to a 19-3 record, averaging 32.4 points, 9.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.2 steals.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Bates was surprised with the award on social media by future Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade and All-Star Jayson Tatum. In addition, Bates spoke at length with Tatum following the news of winning the award.

[lawrence-related id=15466,18816,18248]

[vertical-gallery id=14282]

Locked On Spartans Podcast: A reckless MSU quarterback take

Plus, we try to not get excited about Emoni Bates.

[jwplayer DYUZYpdN-er0jUifI]

Wil has a hot take about MSU’s QB situation. Then he and Matt try to not get excited about Emoni Bates and then some listener questions.

You can find the episode on iTunes, Spotify and Google Podcasts.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=516986277]

MSU signee Pierre Brooks named All-State in division two by Detroit Free Press

A number of MSU targets also found themselves among the all-state teams.

Michigan State commit Pierre Brooks has been named first-team All-State by the Detroit Free Press.

The Free Press released their Dream Team and All-State teams earlier this weeks and Brooks was among the five players listed on the division two first team. Brooks averaged 23.2 points, 7 rebounds, 4.7 assists during his junior season for Detroit Douglass.

Brooks, a four-star shooting guard and top 100 prospect in the class of 2021, committed to Michigan State on April 22. 

Brooks was also named first-team all-state by the Detroit News in April

Potential MSU recruits also featured heavily on the rest of the list. Sophomore Emoni Bates made the Dream Team after being named the Gatorade Notional Player of the Year. Farmington guard Jaden Akins, another top 100 prospect currently predicted to join MSU’s 2021 class, was named second-team All-State in division one. Grand Rapids Christian guard Kobe Bufkin, a 2021 target, made first-team in division two with Brooks.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1363]

Jayson Tatum calls it a ‘big deal’ for Emoni Bates to win Gatorade POY

Tatum surprised Emoni Bates via FaceTime with the news that he had been crowned the Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year.

NBA All-Star Jayson Tatum surprised five-star prospect Emoni Bates on Tuesday via FaceTime with the news that he had been crowned the 2019-20 Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year.

Bates of Lincoln High School in Ypsilanti, Michigan, became the first-ever sophomore to earn the honor and beat out over half of a million student-athletes who compete in boys basketball each year.

Tatum, the 2015-16 Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year, knows firsthand the importance of winning the award.

Typically, winners are surprised in person by an athlete but due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Gatorade surprised Bates digitally via a wave of tweets from professional athletes, including Tatum and Dwyane Wade.

“It’s a big deal. I know how much this award means,” Tatum said on a conference call. “Normally, you get surprised by an athlete at your school. During these times we can’t be around each other and we tried to figure something out to make it memorable, make it special. I was able to give him a FaceTime call and be the first to let him know.”

In the 35 years the award has been given out, the honor has been awarded to only five other underclassmen, all of which were juniors. The 6-foot-9 forward led the Railsplitters to a 19-3 record, averaging 32.4 points, 9.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.2 steals in 21 games.

“It was real good. I’m happy to get this award,” Bates told Rookie Wire. “[Tatum] told me to keep working, that he was proud of me and welcomed me to the Gatorade family.”

Photo courtesy of Gatorade

Since many events around the country have been shut down due to the coronavirus outbreak, Tatum was happy to help surprise Bates via FaceTime with the news. Tatum, along with Wade, also sent out congratulatory tweets to Bates on Tuesday morning.

Bates is considered to be a five-star prospect and the No. 1-ranked player in the 2022 recruiting class, according to 247Sports. He has been compared to Kevin Durant and has received collegiate offers from Duke, Michigan State and Kentucky among others.

Like Bates, Tatum was highly recruited out of Chaminade College Prep in St. Louis, Missouri, before committing to play at Duke.

Tatum still remembers being surprised with the Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year award by Penny Hardaway.

“I remember I was coming from Chicago at the McDonald’s All American Game,” Tatum said. “It was a weekday, I think it might have been a Thursday. I remember I landed at like seven in the morning and I thought I was going to be able to go home and not have to go to school that day. My mom begged me to go to school and I couldn’t understand why.

I went to school, I wasn’t happy about it. Everybody was acting weird that day and my principal came and told me I had a press conference and all of my teammates were there but there was only one microphone so I sat up there. Penny stood up in the back and asked how I felt to win the award and I was just completely caught off guard.

Past Gatorade National Boys Basketball Players of the Year have gone on to have incredible success – they’ve combined for five NBA MVPs awards, 69 All-Star appearances and 26 became NBA first-round draft picks.

[lawrence-related id=13306,10737,2383]

[vertical-gallery id=11659]

Wade, Tatum surprise Emoni Bates with the Gatorade Boys POY award

Dwyane Wade and Jayson Tatum surprised Emoni Bates with the news that he was named Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year.

[jwplayer kSHbmusT]

Future Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade and NBA All-Star Jayson Tatum surprised five-star prospect Emoni Bates on Tuesday morning with the news that he was named 2019-20 Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year.

Bates of Lincoln High School in Ypsilanti, Michigan, became the first sophomore to earn the honor and beat out over half of a million student-athletes who compete in boys basketball each year. The 6-foot-9 forward led the Railsplitters to a 19-3 record, averaging 32.4 points, 9.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.2 steals in 21 games.

Gatorade National Players of the Year are historically surprised in person surrounded by their family, friends, teammates and coaches but due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Gatorade surprised Bates digitally via a wave of tweets from professional athletes, including Wade and Tatum, who won the award during the 2015-16 season.

Bates is considered to be a five-star prospect and the No. 1-ranked player in the 2022 recruiting class, according to 247Sports. He has been compared to Kevin Durant and has even graced the cover of Sports Illustrated.

The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence but also high standards of academic, distinguishes Bates as the nation’s best high school boys basketball player.

[lawrence-related id=13306,10737,13874]

[vertical-gallery id=11659]

Locked On spartans Podcast: Emoni Bates, Listener mailbag, Mel Tucker

Emoni Bates calls MSU his dream school, Mel Tucker is making the best of social distancing.

Wil and Matt preview their next Spartans Rewatch game, talk about Emoni Bates saying MSU is his dream school and Mel Tucker being #online.

You can find the episode on iTunes, Spotify, and Google Podcasts.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=516986277]

Top 2022 basketball prospect Emoni Bates reportedly calls MSU his ‘dream school’

The No. 1 high school prospect in the country recently referred to Michigan State as his dream school, according to a Twitter user.

[jwplayer 7mRNeKHd]

The best high school basketball player in the world right now, regardless of age, is Emoni Bates. The top 2022 basketball prospect has already received comparisons to Kevin Durant and is all but guaranteed to emerge as the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft. The hype behind Bates, who lives in Ypsilanti, Michigan, is immense, and according to Tipton Edits, a Twitter user who has connections in the college basketball recruiting world, Bates recently called MSU his ‘dream school.’

The only question is, will Bates even spend time in school? There is still rampant speculation about the NBA changing the rules by the time Bates would be eligible to play for the Spartans. If the NBA does allow high school players to enter the NBA Draft in 2022, Bates would be the focus, and the face, of that decision.

Here is the initial tweet from Tipton Edits:

Bates has been around the program since he first got to high school, and MSU is the frontrunner along with Kentucky to land his recruitment if he goes to school, but that is still a fairly big ‘if’ at this point so temper your expectations accordingly.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]