Michigan State Basketball: Emoni Bates commitment impact felt off court

Emoni Bates surprisingly committed to Michigan State basketball  on Monday, but his largest impact on the program might actually go beyond the court.

I went to sleep on Sunday at 3 a.m. expecting to have an awful Monday. I woke up at 6 a.m. with three hours of sleep and packed my bags for a road trip. See, I don’t do well with sleep deprivation, so during my suffering these Emoni Bates rumors seemed like nothing to concern myself with.

My day was bad enough and I wasn’t about to get my hopes up over nothing.

Regardless, I arrived back in the state Michigan for the first time since December around 1:30 in the afternoon and turned on the TV. I was relaxed, with no expectation for Emoni to commit to the Spartans. That being said, if he didn’t, I would have been devastated. But he committed; he actually committed.

There aren’t many college sports fans who can say they have experienced what Spartan fans have in the past 24 hours. There has never and will never be a better offseason moment for Michigan State athletics. To get a five-star recruit is one thing; but to get a No. 1 overall recruit who has been referred to as the best high school basketball player since LeBron is a whole different ballgame.

And so, as my elongated intro comes to an end, the point that I’m pushing here is that Emoni’s impact will extend far beyond MSU basketball in the 2022 season.

Here are three ways he’ll positively impact the Spartans off the court.