University of Memphis legend Penny Hardaway, now the head coach of the Tigers basketball program, is quickly rebuilding the program into one of the powerhouses in the country, adding another five-star prospect late last week with the addition of Emoni Bates, a 6’8″ guard who is widely considered to be the favorite to be the #1 pick in the NBA Draft after he turns 19 in 2023.
Bates announced his decision to pledge to Coach Hardaway and Memphis on Wednesday, August 25th, choosing the Tigers over offers from Michigan State, Oregon, and the G League of the NBA. Last year, Bates, a Michigan native, had committed to Tom Izzo’s Michigan State Spartans, but later decommitted in April 2021.
Bates, at Memphis, will join what 247Sports considers the #1 class in the country for the 2021 recruiting cycle, with another five-star in Jalen Duren already committed to the class.
Memphis has a strong basketball tradition, but the level of the program has slipped a touch since the late 2000’s, when star guard Derrick Rose led the Tigers to the national championship game, where a loss to Kansas was followed by coach John Calipari leaving for the opening at Kentucky.
In three years at Memphis, Hardaway, a star guard for the program in the early 1990s, has brought in elite recruits in James Wiseman and Previous Achiuwa in his first class. Memphis, a member of the American Athletic Conference, has had three straight winning seasons under Hardaway, with the incoming talent having Tiger fans dreaming of future Final Fours, instead of just being a bubble team on “Selection Sunday”.
