Former No. 1 recruit chooses shocking school

Memphis guard Emoni Bates cheers on his team from the sidelines as they take on Tulane at FedExForum in Memphis on Feb. 9, 2022. Joe Rondone / USA TODAY NETWORK The Commercial Appeal

There has been a shocking development regarding the career of Emoni Bates.

Bates was a five-star prospect and considered by some to be the No. 1 recruit in the country coming out of high school. He reclassified to the 2021 class and enrolled at Memphis last year. But his freshman year was a disaster.

Bates played in 18 games and averaged 9.7 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game last season. He dealt with a back injury and generally underwhelmed compared to his massive expectations. Bates left during the middle of the season and announced he was entering the transfer portal.

Now, Bates has made another announcement. The forward said that he is committing to Eastern Michigan.

Pat Forde reports that some schools that had previously been linked to Bates backed off.

Emoni Bates to Eastern Michigan, per his Instagram. Not a lot of interest from high-major programs, from what I was told in recent weeks. Even some programs who had been linked to him had backed off. A remarkable turn of events for him.

— Pat Forde (@ByPatForde) June 29, 2022

There were differing stories about what went wrong with Bates at Memphis. What’s indisputable is that he did not do well there, and he subsequently did not have a ton of interest when he was ready to transfer.

It’s not very often that a school like Eastern Michigan lands a 5-star recruit. The reality is Bates is nowhere near the caliber of a 5-star player he was once touted to be.