A lot of focus has been put on the upcoming season for Michigan State and rightly so, the Spartans bring back a ton of talent and so far have been the preseason favorites to cut down the nets in March. However, that has not stopped head coach Tom Izzo and his staff from looking towards the future. 

On Friday, Emoni Bates, the No. 1 player in the class of 2022 according to ESPN took to twitter to announce that he had received an offer from MSU. 

In just one season at Ypsilanti Lincoln, Bates has already done what takes some high school players four years to do. He led the Railsplitters to a 23-4 record and a Division 1 state title in his freshman season.

The 6-foot-9, 180 pound small forward tabbed as the ‘next Kevin Durant’ averaged 28.7 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. 

To go along with his state championship trophy, Bates also brought home the Gatorade Player of the Year in Michigan award. 

He has continued to elevate his game this summer, playing in the Nike EYBL Peach Jam with his team Bates Fundamentals this week in North Augusta, South Carolina. To open the tournament, Bates scored 24 points and pulled down 15 rebounds in a win over Alabama Fusion.

Then he went on to score 32 points  along with 12 rebounds against the PSA Cardinals, a team based out of New York. 

Prep to pro..?

Usually the biggest question for all top recruits is where they are going to play college basketball, but the question for Bates is whether he will play college ball at all? 

The NBA, the players union and the NCAA have been in talks to change the current one-and-done rule and lower the draft age to 18 allowing high schoolers to enter the NBA draft. So it’s a possibility that the age will be lowered for Bates to enter the draft in 2022. 

Along with Michigan State Bates has offers from Florida State and DePaul, Izzo and company are hoping they sway the in-state star from those schools and the NBA in 2022.