For two years we listened patiently and nodded as basketball phenom Emoni Bates — and his father, E.J. — told us he was not going anywhere.
The youngster, who became the first sophomore to be named the Gatorade national player of the year, was going to play his four years at Ypsilanti Lincoln and would not reclassify into another graduating class.
His father insisted there was no reason to attend any school other than Lincoln because his 6-foot-9 son, who averaged 31.6 points and nine rebounds as a sophomore and led Lincoln to the Division 1 state championship as a freshman, got all of the top-flight competition he wanted every summer.