Michigan State Basketball: Emoni Bates calls MSU his ‘dream school’

Emoni Bates is No. 1 on Michigan State basketball’s recruiting board for 2022, or possibly 2021, and he admitted that the feeling is mutual.

The nation’s No. 1 recruit has been watching Michigan State for a long time. Emoni Bates grew up in Michigan and watched Tom Izzo and the Spartans dominate the Big Ten for years, winning multiple titles and making eight Final Fours.

Izzo, on the other hand, has had Bates in his locker room for years during visits and has developed a relationship with the high school sophomore who is currently projected as part of the 2022 recruiting class, but there’s a good chance he could reclassify to 2021. If that’s the case, Michigan State could benefit.

However, as Spartan fans well know, recruiting is a wild game. Some recruits can look like they’re heading to Michigan State without a doubt and switch it up last minute (looking at you, Jabari Parker and Josh Jackson) or just drop the Spartans out of the race completely without warning (Cliff Alexander).

Other times, it just feels like a perfect fit (Miles Bridges). Emoni just feels like he’d fit in perfectly with the green and white, and he’d made sense in East Lansing.

Luckily for Izzo, he has the upper hand of coaching the team at his ‘dream school’.

Tipton Edits may not be the source you’d expect to break this type of news, but that account is in contact with hundreds of recruits and makes graphics for them.

This also may not be a huge shock given the fact that Michigan State has been recruiting him the hardest and he showed up at countless basketball games this season — even the senior day game against Ohio State.

Moreover, he’s good friends with Rocket Watts and Gabe Brown.

There’s reason for cautious optimism here if Emoni reclassifies to 2021. Michigan State has been his dream school so it’s time for Izzo to put on that full-court press.