INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MARCH 29: A detail of NCAA Official Wilson basketballs are seen racked up on the court prior to Oregon playing against Louisville during the Midwest Region Semifinal round of the 2013 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium on March 29, 2013 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)We’re years away from Emoni Bates potentially becoming a household name, but the talented 2022 recruit is already generating a strong amount of buzz. However, the 15-year-old forward might not receive scholarship offers from all top college programs.
Bates is undeniably one of the best prospects in his class. Scouts rave about his athleticism and footwork which allow him to score with ease.
Although Bates draws comparisons to iconic players like LeBron James and Kevin Durant, the talented forward from Michigan isn’t getting that much attention early in his recruitment process.
Programs such as Duke, Kansas and Kentucky would love to add Bates in the future. None of those programs have extended an offer thus far, though.
Many don’t believe he’ll ever step foot on a college campus, so they haven’t made the effort in recruiting the 15-year old phenom.
With the NBA expected to remove the one-and-done rule in time for the 2022 class, colleges aren’t offering scholarships to Bates based on the assumption that he’ll go pro.
His father, Elgin Bates, shed some light on the situation and how not receiving offers simply over speculation is unfair to his son.
From 247Sports:
“I believe the deterrent for most of the colleges is they probably feel he won’t ever step foot on a college campus,” Elgin said. “I think it’s a wrongful assumption, especially for a kid who works as hard as he works and for a kid who’s proven that he’s worthy of getting scholarship offers. I definitely don’t think that’s fair to him, just due to the fact that, being a kid who anticipates getting offers because he sees guys in his class — not a knock on them — but guys in his class that might be lesser players that are getting offers and high-major offers. It would make him feel some type of way. But I always tell him to continue to remain humble, and at the end of the day, if they offer you too late and you don’t want to go, that’s their fault.”
Some schools have started to recruit Bates, though, in the event that he does a year in college ball. Florida State was the first power five program to extend an offer, and they’ve been joined by his two home state powers, Michigan and Michigan State.
Considering that Bates is so young and has plenty of room to develop, it’d be wise for teams to extend an offer.
Regardless of all the rumblings of Bates leaving early for the NBA, he’s the type of talent that can lead a program to a national title.
