From Kyle Boone of cbssports.com:
Emoni Bates, the No. 1 basketball recruit in the Class of 2022 and considered by some to be the top basketball recruit regardless of classification, committed to the Michigan State Spartans in a bombshell announcement on Monday.
The 6-foot-8 Ypsilanti, Michigan native chose the Spartans over a host of other offers, citing his longstanding relationship with Hall of Fame coach Tom Izzo.
“They get all my respect,” he said on ESPN’s SportsCenter. “I love how they coach, coach Izzo, I like how they focus on defense more than offense. On and off the court, he has passion. He’s just an amazing guy overall.”
The prevailing belief among college basketball circles with Bates is that he would never play college basketball and ultimately jump to the NBA — and maybe he never will. But MSU nonetheless stayed persistent with him during his recruitment, and were the only school that never wavered in its pursuit of him.
