Emoni Bates, the world’s top basketball prospect, committed to Michigan State on Monday, and this would be a simple story if it happened in 1990 instead of 2020. It is not that simple. Bates loves MSU. He has bonded with the coaches there. He has expressed serious interest in attending college. And he might never go.
In the meantime, he has bold plans. Bates’s father, E.J., tells Sports Illustrated that Emoni is leaving Ypsilanti (Mich.) Lincoln High School to start his own prep school, Ypsilanti Prep Aim High. At least eight other prospects will join him there.