AP: 6-foot-7 eighth-grader in middle of college recruiting debate

[BleedGopher]

per the AP:

Emoni Bates is everything any college could want in a prized recruit.

He's a 6-foot-7 basketball player who's still growing, a serious student of the game and already and an honor student. Moments after stepping onto the court at Michigan State's Breslin Center, he put on a show of athleticism any NBA star would envy.

Bates soared across the lane after grabbing a lob pass off the backboard, cradled it long enough to adjust his grip and banked it off the glass and in the hoop with just the right amount of spin.

The Spartans and Kentucky Wildcats are already two of his favorite teams. They'd probably sign him right now if they could. But they can't, not for a long time.

While the early signing period for college basketball begins Wednesday, the 13-year-old Bates can't sign a letter of intent to play anywhere for at least three and probably four years.

But the eighth grader at Clague Middle School in Ann Arbor, Michigan, has already found himself in the middle of a debate about how young is too young to offer a scholarship. He's one of the most highly touted players in the Class of 2022 and one of three already promised a scholarship by DePaul University in Chicago.

Michigan State's Tom Izzo said he has a problem with the process and acknowledged coaches deserve at least some of the blame.

"These kids get so screwed up," Izzo told The Associated Press. "You see it on Twitter, 'I'm blessed to get my 29th offer.' They collect offers. That's so stupid, but that's our fault. Not theirs."

http://www.startribune.com/six-foot...500833/?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=dlvr.it

Go Gophers!!

 

[WindyCityGopher]

A kid from Ann Arbor who, at least at this point, looks like he has no interest in staying home and playing for his hometown university. I guess select Minnesota kids aren't the only ones who want to get away from home.

 

[Tim1406]

A kid from Ann Arbor who, at least at this point, looks like he has no interest in staying home and playing for his hometown university. I guess select Minnesota kids aren't the only ones who want to get away from home.

MSU is 45 minutes away from that suburb of Detroit (Ann Arbor folks get really riled up by that) and recent history a better basketball school. I'd hardly call going to MSU over Mich not going to his hometown school. I know he is literally from the same town as Mich but with another strong school so close MSU cannot be discounted as a hometown school.

 

[Dano564]

MSU is 45 minutes away from that suburb of Detroit (Ann Arbor folks get really riled up by that) and recent history a better basketball school. I'd hardly call going to MSU over Mich not going to his hometown school. I know he is literally from the same town as Mich but with another strong school so close MSU cannot be discounted as a hometown school.

Location doesn't have a big influence on the divide between MSU and Michigan fans.

 

[WindyCityGopher]

MSU is 45 minutes away from that suburb of Detroit (Ann Arbor folks get really riled up by that) and recent history a better basketball school. I'd hardly call going to MSU over Mich not going to his hometown school. I know he is literally from the same town as Mich but with another strong school so close MSU cannot be discounted as a hometown school.

Ask any Michigan fan if they consider MSU a "hometown school" for athletes from Ann Arbor and they'll punch you in the face. I was in Ann Arbor for the game this weekend and watched the Sparty-PSU game with a big group of Michigan fans before that. They hated that Hunter Rison, from Ann Arbor, but the son of MSU legend Andre, went to MSU instead of Michigan, because they hate everything to do with Michigan State.

 

[WanderingGopher]

Ask any Michigan fan if they consider MSU a "hometown school" for athletes from Ann Arbor and they'll punch you in the face. I was in Ann Arbor for the game this weekend and watched the Sparty-PSU game with a big group of Michigan fans before that. They hated that Hunter Rison, from Ann Arbor, but the son of MSU legend Andre, went to MSU instead of Michigan, because they hate everything to do with Michigan State.

It must be really weird having such a hated in-state rival, and then 12 hours later (on Sundays) you're best buddies rooting for the same team, side by side drinking beers at a tailgate.

At least in Minnesota, we can hate the Badgers and Packers equally.

 

[Tim1406]

Ask any Michigan fan if they consider MSU a "hometown school" for athletes from Ann Arbor and they'll punch you in the face. I was in Ann Arbor for the game this weekend and watched the Sparty-PSU game with a big group of Michigan fans before that. They hated that Hunter Rison, from Ann Arbor, but the son of MSU legend Andre, went to MSU instead of Michigan, because they hate everything to do with Michigan State.

I go to MSU for grad school, and I went to undergrad in Michigan and I really have never seen that kind of hatred. I have seen an intense dislike, mainly from spartans, who feel like UMich is given more publicity than they deserve. However, most of UMichigan's hatred tends to be reserved for OSU (that's not to say pockets don't exist otherwise).

As far as hometown school goes both schools recruit the whole state equally. I agree with Face the Facts on this one more than anything else that location in the state doesn't impact MSU vs Mich too much.

It must be really weird having such a hated in-state rival, and then 12 hours later (on Sundays) you're best buddies rooting for the same team, side by side drinking beers at a tailgate.

I don't think its as pronounced, most of the time, as WindyCityGopher's experience.

 

[Gophers7NatTitlesBadgers0]

I go to MSU for grad school, and I went to undergrad in Michigan and I really have never seen that kind of hatred. I have seen an intense dislike, mainly from spartans, who feel like UMich is given more publicity than they deserve. However, most of UMichigan's hatred tends to be reserved for OSU (that's not to say pockets don't exist otherwise).

As far as hometown school goes both schools recruit the whole state equally. I agree with Face the Facts on this one more than anything else that location in the state doesn't impact MSU vs Mich too much.



I don't think its as pronounced, most of the time, as WindyCityGopher's experience.

I've always had the feeling that Michigan fans look at MSU the way badger fans view us, not worth wasting too much time worrying about as there are bigger fish to fry.