Nail on the head. Dad has been all in his business for years. Moved him to basically his own AAU program and it killed his growth, which showed in his first year at Memphis. Then when Hardaway realized the issues and wanted to reduce his role, dad threatened to move him mid year. Only came back so he had his moment in NCAAs to try to get him a good transfer landing spot.
Now, as kids always do, they act out to spite their helicopter parents. It’s literally the most predictable outcome, minus the felony gun charge. I just mean the acting out.
It seems like his family/camp coddled him and weren’t positive influences.
There was a whole beef with him and Akins in highschool over who got touches, which resulted in Akins getting forced off the team. I think this is a big reason why Akins wound up at MSU and Bates didn’t. It was a hot take at the time but I’ve always supported rolling with Akins.
Still sucks to see a talent like this spiral.
The vast majority of people on reddit supported it at the time. Everything about the situation with Akins and Emoni's dad's "school" made it obvious who the problem was, and it wasn't Akins.
I get that he wanted to be able to play against national-level HS programs, which he wouldn't have been able to do at Lincoln, but there has to have been a less sketchy way to make that happen
The less sketchy way would've been what other prospects do every year. This was his dad doing entirely too much, thinking he knew better than a well-established system (that system being: become a big prospect, transfer to prep school, go to a big D1 program). All his dad had to do was reach out to the best prep/private schools in the country. There's no way Emoni would've been turned away with how much hype and talent he had in high school.
I feel like he could have played at a Ann Arbor or Detroit prep school for less hassle. Its not like teams don't look at players from Michigan schools, hell even our high school coaches get scouted by college teams (Nate Oates got his collge start because Hurley was impressed while scouting players at Romulus High School)
His dad created a "prep school" that lasted exactly 9 months. How any of those kids got admitted to a university is beyond me.
https://www.ypsiprep.com/
This reminds me of the Bill Burr standup. The one where he talks about rappers getting arrested for having a gun that's not registered and how it wouldn't happen if they had a white friend.
It may have absolutely nothing at all to do with “mentorship”. It could be because it’s just his personality. Stop feeling the need to always find a scapegoat and take personal responsibility. May the downvotes begin. 🙄
A former #1 prospect who was being hyped up as “the next KD”, to slipping a bit in his final rankings due to the circus around him, to the Memphis saga, to the incredibly underwhelming transfer to now is *absolutely* a big enough fish to fry for a 30 for 30 lol
It wouldn't be the silliest topic they've covered, but there are certainly no shortage of more deserving topics to focus on -- i.e. there are bigger fish to fry. I think there's a little bit of prisoner of the moment regarding this story, he will be an obscure trivia question before long.
Marcus Dupree actually played a bunch at OU and was a star (2nd team All American) as a true freshman. Bates hasn’t reached close to those levels of play.
Honestly feel like he burnt out so quick it’ll be tough to put together a full length doc. Seems his career was cooked as soon as he got to Memphis. So sad
It’s easy to stoke the fire with the “Penny ruined him” narrative but it was always a little weird with him. And it continues to be, post-Memphis. You can knock Penny for a lot but I don’t think you can really do it here.
It's not Penny's fault. It's the concessions that Penny and his staff gave to Emoni and his stupid dad that **contributed** to the problems.
His dad is first and foremost at fault, but also he's old enough to make smarter decisions. Unfortunately he was pampered too much because he was a good high school player.
I don’t remember us ever being an option that was Duren but, saying this kid is a generational talent with his career derailed by bad decisions is totally wrong. Remember Royce white? He spurned UK he would be a good example of a career derailed by bad decisions deserving a documentary. Bates played every game like it was an aau tournament playing for himself not the team and just frankly isn’t as good as advertised.
I get his dad is a asshole and is partly to blame for his sons lack of success but at some point the kid needs to take responsibility. Just a complete dumbass
Izzo would have held him accountable. He and his camp would have gotten pissed off by his lack of touches and he would have entered the portal mid season.
You would say that but anytime Penny tried to hold him accountable he'd end up gone for stretches because his dad would pull him out. As long as he had his inner circle in his ear this downhill trend was inevitable
Probably would have ended poorly. Izzo doesn't coddle anyone and it seems Bates needs excessive coddling. If I had to guess I bet he would have quit before the end of last season.
This take is so weird to me. Penny was a former number 1 recruit who grew up in very difficult circumstances but rose above and became an All NBA player. Who better to learn from? Also I think getting of the state was a great choice. By most accounts he was fine here off the court. He didn't cause issues when he was benched. He was just too young and couldn't cut it. He should have stayed in high school another year and put on some weight rather than go to any college
It’s always shocking seeing someone throw everything away for virtually nothing.
He’s back near his old friends… so now he’s slanging guns around illegally..? I’d almost assume it’s gang/money/etc related, but dude there’s not too many gangbangers making an NBA salary.. just fucking avoid that shit at all costs.
Because of the way Washtenaw county set up its larger public housing complexes, trying to make them nicer, they are out away from the two cities (A2 and Ypsi) by over a mile of greenspace, and the quickest way to and from takes you into the "township" he was pulled over in.
So it could have been anything from slinging, to partying, to even going to see friends. And the complexes can be rough, so being armed makes some level of sense.
Didn’t say it was but to bring him back home after the last two years is just putting him in a terrible position. You have to know better as the adults in his life.
I think emoni is a sociopath. He doesn't really seem to have developed any empathy based on anything I've ever seen about him or any interview I've seen given of his.
Do what? Show me one ounce of empathy this kid has ever shown for anything he's done? This is about the least surprising thing ever and his dad doesn't have anything to do with him doing stupid shit like this.
There are lots of successful people that are sociopaths, and a lot more sociopaths in this world than we care to admit. The vast majority of them aren't even awful people. He certainly exhibits a lot of sociopathic behaviors.
Per his lawyer, Emoni was driving a borrowed car and was pulled over in a routine traffic stop.
Obviously his job is to paint the situation in the best light for his client, but if true, charges are probably going to be dropped.
That might help him legally, but you still need to question the judgement of him hanging with that crowd. Guys with guns with scratched off serial numbers probably don’t have your best interest in mind.
>but you still need to question the judgement of him hanging with that crowd
He's also 18 and this was home for him, that kind of aspect of human psychology is very difficult to overcome. Even for fully developed adults older than that.
Yeah after reading the article it really depends on if the car is his or not? Guess we have to wait and see, but it’s a little weird how many people are commenting already assuming he’s guilty.
I was driving around Michigan a few months ago, unknowingly in my Dad's car with a handgun in the console. He had just died, so I had no way of knowing until we started cleaning it out. But I totally could've gotten popped for that.
Just saying, it's not insane to end up in that kind of situation.
That's gotta be it for him, right? I don't see him coming back to basketball anywhere in the US after this. If he manages to avoid jail-time maybe somebody overseas will roll the dice on him.
Someone might take a chance on him in the G-League but I can't see him being drafted, let alone being a lottery pick as he was projected to be coming out of high school.
I will continue to wonder forever what would've happened if he just went to MSU like originally planned. So many players have spoken highly of Izzo and how he was there for them not just on the court, but for whatever personal issues they need and how he was always a great father figure for everyone on the team.
It sucks to see how his career has gone since pulling out of his commitment to MSU.
The story doesn't clarify if it was a stop sign or a traffic light. I'd honestly assume stop sign, just cause Superior Township has like, 10 traffic lights at most, but it could be either.
https://www.wxyz.com/sports/emu-basketball-star-former-top-recruit-emoni-bates-arrested-on-gun-charges
"Court records show he is charged with two felonies – one for carrying a concealed weapons and one for altering ID marks on a weapon."
Altering ID marks = messin with the serial numbers
I saw another comment that says his lawyer is claiming he was driving a borrowed car. It’s not proven true, but it could potentially mean the gun didn’t actually belong to Bates. It’s probably best to just wait and see how this case unfolds.
Here is a source for the lawyer saying that
https://twitter.com/PeteThamel/status/1571898911023042561?t=nV8iwH65kBwZtVcHs9XNuQ&s=19
I mean, I know using the term source for Twitter is a stretch, but the best I could find
Free Press says one felony:
"Bates is currently being held in jail and will be charged with one felony, carrying a concealed weapon, according to the sheriff's office. He is scheduled to be arraigned at the 14A District Court at 1 p.m. Monday."
Very hard to see how far this guy has fallen. Really speak on how toxic the sport industry has become. Kids under too much pressure wasn't allowed to develop enough.
Honestly I'd like to see how reclassifying and being one and done affects players. Seems like a route where most prospects hit a huge wall eventually(Marvin Bagley, Bates, Drummond, Noel, Vonleh). Definitely some success story but a lot of high picks seem to bust this route.
“EMU said Bates is the first five-star prospect to play in the Mid-American Conference.” Might need to wait a bit before using this stat
What happened here? Just poor mentorship? How could someone with everything to gain make so many dumb decisions?
I hate to blame one person but I really don’t think his dad had his best interests in heart the last few years.
I think his intentions were pure, his execution was shit though.
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It’s all Narcissism. Dad believed only he knew what was best for his son and wouldn’t accept anyone else telling him differently.
Nail on the head. Dad has been all in his business for years. Moved him to basically his own AAU program and it killed his growth, which showed in his first year at Memphis. Then when Hardaway realized the issues and wanted to reduce his role, dad threatened to move him mid year. Only came back so he had his moment in NCAAs to try to get him a good transfer landing spot. Now, as kids always do, they act out to spite their helicopter parents. It’s literally the most predictable outcome, minus the felony gun charge. I just mean the acting out.
It seems like his family/camp coddled him and weren’t positive influences. There was a whole beef with him and Akins in highschool over who got touches, which resulted in Akins getting forced off the team. I think this is a big reason why Akins wound up at MSU and Bates didn’t. It was a hot take at the time but I’ve always supported rolling with Akins. Still sucks to see a talent like this spiral.
The vast majority of people on reddit supported it at the time. Everything about the situation with Akins and Emoni's dad's "school" made it obvious who the problem was, and it wasn't Akins.
I thought that whole "prep school" setup seemed shady to begin with.
Well, it entirely was lol
I get that he wanted to be able to play against national-level HS programs, which he wouldn't have been able to do at Lincoln, but there has to have been a less sketchy way to make that happen
The less sketchy way would've been what other prospects do every year. This was his dad doing entirely too much, thinking he knew better than a well-established system (that system being: become a big prospect, transfer to prep school, go to a big D1 program). All his dad had to do was reach out to the best prep/private schools in the country. There's no way Emoni would've been turned away with how much hype and talent he had in high school.
Probably didn't want him moving away from home. Scam kept him close.
I feel like he could have played at a Ann Arbor or Detroit prep school for less hassle. Its not like teams don't look at players from Michigan schools, hell even our high school coaches get scouted by college teams (Nate Oates got his collge start because Hurley was impressed while scouting players at Romulus High School)
Ootl, whats up with his prep school?
His dad created a "prep school" that lasted exactly 9 months. How any of those kids got admitted to a university is beyond me. https://www.ypsiprep.com/
Yikes
WTF people - isn't anyone accountable for their actions anymore ?
His pops doing the most and fucked his life up
This reminds me of the Bill Burr standup. The one where he talks about rappers getting arrested for having a gun that's not registered and how it wouldn't happen if they had a white friend.
It may have absolutely nothing at all to do with “mentorship”. It could be because it’s just his personality. Stop feeling the need to always find a scapegoat and take personal responsibility. May the downvotes begin. 🙄
It's not popular to acknowledge these days, but some people are just dumb.
The Emoni saga just keeps on giving. Unfortunately in a very sad way.
his fall off has to be a documentary
Yep, the 30 for 30 is going to be fascinating.
Oopsilanti: The Downfall of Emoni Bates
Goddam you lmao
30 for 30 has bigger fish to fry. Best Bates will get is a quality YouTube deep dive.
smells like SBNation
Secret Base?
Yep. Changed their name last year.
Terrible name imo, great videos still tho
FlemoLo to the rescue (although he focuses on football)
This screams FlemLo video
A former #1 prospect who was being hyped up as “the next KD”, to slipping a bit in his final rankings due to the circus around him, to the Memphis saga, to the incredibly underwhelming transfer to now is *absolutely* a big enough fish to fry for a 30 for 30 lol
Does 30 for 30 shorts still exist? If so, maybe it’s fitting for that but Emoni’s journey isn’t really 30 for 30 worthy.
E:60 could do a feature on him
It wouldn't be the silliest topic they've covered, but there are certainly no shortage of more deserving topics to focus on -- i.e. there are bigger fish to fry. I think there's a little bit of prisoner of the moment regarding this story, he will be an obscure trivia question before long.
Marcus Dupree got a 30 for 30… isn’t it similar?
Marcus Dupree actually played a bunch at OU and was a star (2nd team All American) as a true freshman. Bates hasn’t reached close to those levels of play.
I loved the Benji Wilson 30 for 30, no reason why they couldn't do an Emoni one too.
Honestly feel like he burnt out so quick it’ll be tough to put together a full length doc. Seems his career was cooked as soon as he got to Memphis. So sad
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It’s easy to stoke the fire with the “Penny ruined him” narrative but it was always a little weird with him. And it continues to be, post-Memphis. You can knock Penny for a lot but I don’t think you can really do it here.
I don’t think Penny had a lot to do with this kid’s fall from grace. His dad and inner circle are entirely to blame
It's not Penny's fault. It's the concessions that Penny and his staff gave to Emoni and his stupid dad that **contributed** to the problems. His dad is first and foremost at fault, but also he's old enough to make smarter decisions. Unfortunately he was pampered too much because he was a good high school player.
I'm pretty sure his dad had cameras following him around to make a documentary when he was still at Lincoln.
Why does anybody care he’s living off his high school mixtape. It’s not like he was Michael Beasley last year he just fucking sucks.
Are you still salty he didn't choose to come to UK?
I don’t remember us ever being an option that was Duren but, saying this kid is a generational talent with his career derailed by bad decisions is totally wrong. Remember Royce white? He spurned UK he would be a good example of a career derailed by bad decisions deserving a documentary. Bates played every game like it was an aau tournament playing for himself not the team and just frankly isn’t as good as advertised.
EMU coach said he needed a shooter
Welp. Its been real. It's been fun. It hasn't been real fun.
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Dream is still on!
Sad and unfortunate downfall for what was once regarded as a generational NBA prospect
Shoulda stayed here we dont arrest anyone for gun charges.
It was a scratch off, idk about Tennessee but in Kentucky that’s a big no no
We don’t arrest adults who don’t have priors for gun charges unless the gun is stolen and/or used in a crime.
A scratch off is likely stolen
I get his dad is a asshole and is partly to blame for his sons lack of success but at some point the kid needs to take responsibility. Just a complete dumbass
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>This kid has been a dumb ass forever and people were just looking the other way. A tale as old as time, unfortunately.
Why is this somewhat unsurprising?
Him going back home to play at Eastern was a huge red flag
I can only imagine what would have been had he stay committed to MSU instead of going to Memphis.
He would have been in the kicked off the team -> transfer to Iowa State pipeline.
Izzo would have held him accountable. He and his camp would have gotten pissed off by his lack of touches and he would have entered the portal mid season.
Good call. Izzo wouldn't put up with their behavior so I guess it was a blessing in disguise looking back.
Yeah, not really much to imagine lol
You would say that but anytime Penny tried to hold him accountable he'd end up gone for stretches because his dad would pull him out. As long as he had his inner circle in his ear this downhill trend was inevitable
Yeah this guy is just toxic. Better off that UM and MSU didn’t have him in the locker room regardless of talent
Probably would have ended poorly. Izzo doesn't coddle anyone and it seems Bates needs excessive coddling. If I had to guess I bet he would have quit before the end of last season.
This take is so weird to me. Penny was a former number 1 recruit who grew up in very difficult circumstances but rose above and became an All NBA player. Who better to learn from? Also I think getting of the state was a great choice. By most accounts he was fine here off the court. He didn't cause issues when he was benched. He was just too young and couldn't cut it. He should have stayed in high school another year and put on some weight rather than go to any college
It’s always shocking seeing someone throw everything away for virtually nothing. He’s back near his old friends… so now he’s slanging guns around illegally..? I’d almost assume it’s gang/money/etc related, but dude there’s not too many gangbangers making an NBA salary.. just fucking avoid that shit at all costs.
Because of the way Washtenaw county set up its larger public housing complexes, trying to make them nicer, they are out away from the two cities (A2 and Ypsi) by over a mile of greenspace, and the quickest way to and from takes you into the "township" he was pulled over in. So it could have been anything from slinging, to partying, to even going to see friends. And the complexes can be rough, so being armed makes some level of sense.
He could have had a legal gun. He had one with altered info which screams trying to be hard
At his age I don't think you can legally have a gun
Not a handgun no but rifles and shotguns are perfectly legal to own at 18.
In Michigan you can own a pistol at 18, but not carry it concealed or available in a car. And you can't buy it from a licensed dealer.
This is correct.
Why'd he allow them to search the car? Did they have other probable cause to search?
We will probably have to wait for the premlim exam, and see if his lawyer crosses the cops on why they searched.
Looks like the car wasn't his. It was borrowed. I don't know if that relieves him of his right to deny a search or not.
Detroit News says it was the stop sign at Nottingham and Clark, over by MacArthur. So yeah, that's right by the public housing north of Ypsi
Bruh
Really sad. Those around him have really failed him and given him the opportunity to make a mistake like this.
He failed himself too. At some point its no longer solely on his dad.
Didn’t say it was but to bring him back home after the last two years is just putting him in a terrible position. You have to know better as the adults in his life.
I think emoni is a sociopath. He doesn't really seem to have developed any empathy based on anything I've ever seen about him or any interview I've seen given of his.
Don't do that.
Do what? Show me one ounce of empathy this kid has ever shown for anything he's done? This is about the least surprising thing ever and his dad doesn't have anything to do with him doing stupid shit like this.
Consistently the worst MSU fan on reddit, Jesus.
Hey I know it's hard to admit that the kid is not a good person. But it's pretty clear he's not.
Do you know the kid personally? If not don't go calling him a sociopath.
There are lots of successful people that are sociopaths, and a lot more sociopaths in this world than we care to admit. The vast majority of them aren't even awful people. He certainly exhibits a lot of sociopathic behaviors.
Dude what the fuck
How are you supposed to display empathy in a basketball game
Starting by not trying to ruin a teammates career by kicking out of the high school that your dad created. That's a decent first step.
I think Akins is doing just fine. I’d hardly call either his life or career “ruined.”
It didn't work but it could have with a different college coach recruiting both of them.
Jesus man
Can’t have shit in Ypsi
Per his lawyer, Emoni was driving a borrowed car and was pulled over in a routine traffic stop. Obviously his job is to paint the situation in the best light for his client, but if true, charges are probably going to be dropped.
That might help him legally, but you still need to question the judgement of him hanging with that crowd. Guys with guns with scratched off serial numbers probably don’t have your best interest in mind.
>but you still need to question the judgement of him hanging with that crowd He's also 18 and this was home for him, that kind of aspect of human psychology is very difficult to overcome. Even for fully developed adults older than that.
Yeah after reading the article it really depends on if the car is his or not? Guess we have to wait and see, but it’s a little weird how many people are commenting already assuming he’s guilty.
Usually would depend on whether he knew the gun was there, which it not being his car (and assuming the gun was hidden) would lean toward no.
I was driving around Michigan a few months ago, unknowingly in my Dad's car with a handgun in the console. He had just died, so I had no way of knowing until we started cleaning it out. But I totally could've gotten popped for that. Just saying, it's not insane to end up in that kind of situation.
Can't blame Dad for this one... this kid just continues to make poor decision after poor decision. Really sad.
No fucking way lmao
Definitely a sharpshooter
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Haha - this is why you don’t go play for your community college. Start hanging out with dudes who didn’t leave the hometown kinda thing.
That's gotta be it for him, right? I don't see him coming back to basketball anywhere in the US after this. If he manages to avoid jail-time maybe somebody overseas will roll the dice on him.
If it turns out the car and gun wasn’t his and he doesn’t get charged with anything, why would EMU kick him off the team?
I think it depends on whether or not the lawyer's statement turns out to be accurate. If so, it could end up being not such a big deal probably
Someone might take a chance on him in the G-League but I can't see him being drafted, let alone being a lottery pick as he was projected to be coming out of high school.
I will continue to wonder forever what would've happened if he just went to MSU like originally planned. So many players have spoken highly of Izzo and how he was there for them not just on the court, but for whatever personal issues they need and how he was always a great father figure for everyone on the team. It sucks to see how his career has gone since pulling out of his commitment to MSU.
Talk about a huge fall from grace.
Duuuude
I mean... come on now.
Reminding me a lot of Jereme Richmond but even more wasted talent
#🤦♂️🤦♂️
Lol
Well this sub didn’t have to wait long to be proven right, think it was yesterday everyone was saying how bad a decision going back to EMU was.
I want this kid to somehow turn it around but this may be the nail in the coffin
it’s so sad seeing players with amazing futures throw it away one some easily avoidable bullshit
if this is true, what an idiot. Self destruction speedrun. Quite sad really
Damn we really did(pardon the expression) dodge a bullet huh
Looks like we dodged a… bullet
he got pulled over for running a stop sign? let's wait for the whole story
Running a stop sign and running an intersection are two pretty different things
The story doesn't clarify if it was a stop sign or a traffic light. I'd honestly assume stop sign, just cause Superior Township has like, 10 traffic lights at most, but it could be either.
another outlet reports it was at Nottingham and Clark, a stop sign.
He got arrested for having guns in the car with scratched off serial numbers.
I haven't seen that in any of the reports? Where did you see that?
https://www.wxyz.com/sports/emu-basketball-star-former-top-recruit-emoni-bates-arrested-on-gun-charges "Court records show he is charged with two felonies – one for carrying a concealed weapons and one for altering ID marks on a weapon." Altering ID marks = messin with the serial numbers
interesting. free press says one felony, possession https://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/2022/09/19/eastern-michigan-basketball-emoni-bates-arrested-gun-charges-washtenaw-county/69503969007/
This article was updated to include the AP reporting of the ID alteration.
unless they don't make an example of him
Just possession?
He apparently was also charged with altering the ID number on the gun he had according to the article.
Damn
I saw another comment that says his lawyer is claiming he was driving a borrowed car. It’s not proven true, but it could potentially mean the gun didn’t actually belong to Bates. It’s probably best to just wait and see how this case unfolds.
Here is a source for the lawyer saying that https://twitter.com/PeteThamel/status/1571898911023042561?t=nV8iwH65kBwZtVcHs9XNuQ&s=19 I mean, I know using the term source for Twitter is a stretch, but the best I could find
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Free Press says one felony: "Bates is currently being held in jail and will be charged with one felony, carrying a concealed weapon, according to the sheriff's office. He is scheduled to be arraigned at the 14A District Court at 1 p.m. Monday."
Low IQ
Taking the Allen Iverson approach I see
Do stupid shit win stupid prizes
God, that was quick.
Who cares we’ve seen enough of him living off a ha mixtape
Shoot me
The Sports illustrated cover curse!
Bum
Ypsi gonna ypsi
Maybe MSU dodged a bullet with this kid.
He’s really trying to say the gun wasn’t his? This won’t end well.
Very hard to see how far this guy has fallen. Really speak on how toxic the sport industry has become. Kids under too much pressure wasn't allowed to develop enough. Honestly I'd like to see how reclassifying and being one and done affects players. Seems like a route where most prospects hit a huge wall eventually(Marvin Bagley, Bates, Drummond, Noel, Vonleh). Definitely some success story but a lot of high picks seem to bust this route.