Emoni Bates

BIOGRAPHY

Emoni Bates was born January 28, 2004, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He is a forward in the NBA.

Bates, at age 17, entered his freshman season at Memphis as the youngest player in college basketball. On November 9, 2021, he made his college debut, recording a season-high 17 points, four rebounds and four assists in an 89–65 win against Tennessee Tech. He was named American Athletic Conference (AAC) Freshman of the Week on November 15, after two games. As Memphis began facing stronger competition, head coach Penny Hardaway moved Bates to point guard, a position he had not played in high school, and he struggled in his new role. In December, he suffered a finger injury that caused him to miss three games. Bates later missed 12 games, including the AAC tournament, with a lower back injury and returned for the NCAA tournament. In 18 games as a freshman, he averaged 9.7 points and 3.3 rebounds, shooting 38.6 percent from the field, and drastically fell in NBA draft projections.

For his sophomore season, Bates transferred to Eastern Michigan, his hometown college team, after also considering Michigan, Arkansas, Seton Hall, DePaul and Louisville. Before the season, on September 19, 2022, he was suspended by the team after being arrested on gun charges in the previous day. Bates was reinstated on October 13 following a plea deal that would lead to the charges being dropped. He did not play in the team's season opener against Wayne State for undisclosed reasons. On November 11, Bates made his debut for Eastern Michigan and led his team with 30 points in an 88–83 loss to Michigan. Against Toledo on January 24, Bates scored 29 straight points for Eastern Michigan in the first half. That was all he scored in that half, as he ended with 43 points in a 84–79 loss. In 30 games at Eastern Michigan during the 2022–23 season, he averaged 19.2 points and 5.8 rebounds. On April 24, 2023, Bates entered his name in the 2023 NBA draft where he would be drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers.