Emoni Bates declares for 2023 NBA draft; Eastern Michigan player once was a top recruit

Emoni Bates, the former No. 1 prospect in his recruiting class, has declared for the 2023 NBA draft, he confirmed on his Instagram account Monday morning.

"What I been dreaming for my whole life," he wrote.

The deadline for underclassmen to enter the draft was Sunday.

Bates a few years ago was projected to be the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft whenever he became eligible. But that quickly changed the past few years with a winding road eventually leading him to Eastern Michigan.

Bates, a slender 6 feet 10 and 170 pounds who turned 19 in January, averaged 19.2 points in 30 games at Eastern Michigan last season as a sophomore under coach Stan Heath. Bates, a small forward/wing, made 33% of his 7.7 3-point attempts per game, shot 47.4% on 2s and averaged 5.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists against 2.5 turnovers.

He played 18 games in 2021-22 at Memphis, where he struggled to adjust to the college game, averaging 9.7 points and 3.3 rebounds. He missed 12 games late in the season with a back injury, but returned to play in No. 9 seed Memphis' two NCAA Tournament games. He played 12 minutes off the bench in the second round with five points on 2-for-7 shooting in an 82-78 loss to No. 1 seed Gonzaga. He left the team after the season, in part due to issues with upperclassmen.

The Ypsilanti, Michigan, native returned to Washtenaw County, but was arrested in September and suspended from the team after being charged with two felonies, carrying a concealed weapon and "altering ID marks." He pleaded not guilty, and the charge was dropped to a misdemeanor a few weeks later and his suspension lifted. In exchange, Bates was to complete a diversion program to have his record expunged, and enter a mentorship program.

He made a splash during his Eastern Michigan debut with 30 points in a tight loss against Michigan in November. That prompted Free Press columnist Shawn Windsor to write Bates "looked like the future again."

A few months later, Bates scored 29 points in a row and 43 total in a January loss to Toledo, the eventual Mid-American Conference regular season champion.

But EMU went 8-23 overall, and finished tied for ninth in the conference (5-13).

Bates was the second-to-last draft pick, No. 57 overall, in ESPN's mock draft two weeks ago. He was ranked as the No. 78 prospect on the draft big board by The Athletic in early March.

Bates was long billed a basketball phenom, rated as the nation's No. 1 player in his class as a seventh-grader. He won a state title as a freshman with Ypsilanti Lincoln in 2019, and became the first sophomore to be named the Gatorade national player of the year. The highlight: scoring 63 points and grabbing 21 rebounds in a double-overtime win over Chelsea.

He committed to Michigan State in June 2020 as the top recruit in the 2022 class, and left the Railsplitters to join Ypsi Prep, a new basketball training house founded by his father so Bates could play against top competition around the country. He decommitted from MSU in April 2021, reclassified and joined the 2021 recruiting class as the No. 3 prospect. He committed to coach Penny Hardaway at Memphis.

The draft combine will be held May 15-21 in Chicago, with the draft set for June 22 in Brooklyn, New York. The Detroit Pistons have a 14% chance at the No. 1 pick, and own the first pick of the second round, No. 31 overall.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Emoni Bates declares for 2023 NBA draft after winding path in college