The news wasn’t expected in the moment, but that in itself is no surprise, really. Because Emoni Bates isn’t like the others.
And we’ve known that for a while now, as the local hoops phenom became a national celebrity, his on-court exploits feeding his off-court profile. Bates, a wiry and intense competitor with rare skills, started turning heads as a middle-schooler, lit up the AAU circuit, led Ypsilanti Lincoln to a Division 1 state title as a freshman, landed on the cover of Sports Illustrated and became the first sophomore ever to earn Gatorade National Player of the Year honors this spring.