Top 2022 Recruit Emoni Bates Decommits from Michigan State

Last June the Spartans got a big pick up when top rated 2022 recruit Emoni Bates committed to the program. The five-star prospect chose the Spartans over a laundry list of major programs, including Duke and in-state rival Michigan. It was also mentioned at the time that there was chatter about Bates potentially reclassifying in the future, trying to get to the NBA without stepping foot on campus. That little tidbit was one of the main reasons most schools didn’t recruit him as seriously as they would have otherwise, allowing the Spartans to swoop in and get the verbal committment.

Now almost a year later and Emoni Bates has announced that he has decommitted from the Spartans.

“I would like to thank Tom Izzo and the coaching staff at Michigan State but I have decided to reopen my recruitment,” Bates said. “I’m not sure what my future holds but I am keeping all of my options open, both college and pro.”

While Bates reopening his recruitment will ultimately lead to plenty of chatter, there’s still speculation that the top recruit could possibly go the G League route for a year before heading to the NBA. It wouldn’t be a first, either, with top 2020 recruit Jalen Green playing in the G League instead of college. Several other five star recruits have done the same as well, including Jonathan Kuminga, Daishen Nix and Isaiah Todd.

The 6’9” forward is going to be a hot commodity that many schools will make a push for. It still remains to be seen if he’ll end up playing college basketball, though.