Emoni Bates, regarded as the top high school prospect in America, is heading to college a year earlier and chose Memphis over Oregon, Michigan State and the G League Ignite team.
Head coach Penny Hardaway landed a strong recruiting class with Bates and the other top player in the 2022 class, Jalen Duren. Both Bates and Duren teamed up this past spring on the AAU circuit playing for Philadelphia-based Team Final on Nike’s EYBL.
“His passing is really underrated, and I love playing with him,” Duren told Yahoo Sports last month. “He creates so much space for others since you can’t even drop off to help in the post when he doesn’t have the ball.