Former No. 1 Recruit Emoni Bates Is Reportedly Back On Eastern Michigan After His Felony Charges Were Dropped

[Source] - The felony charges against Emoni Bates, a former top recruit now at Eastern Michigan, are set to be dismissed next week, his lawyer told ESPN.

Attorney Steve Haney said in a phone interview on Thursday that Bates is in the process of being reinstated by the university, athletic department and president. He had been suspended the past three weeks pending resolution of the felony charges.

Eastern Michigan University sources confirmed to ESPN that Bates has been cleared to return to athletics practice and is in the process of being cleared to return to campus for classes.

Significant news here. No real spin on it or anything like that. Emoni Bates is getting felony charges dropped against him. From a basketball standpoint - which I'm going to focus on here - he's going to be back on EMU in time for the season. That was obviously in question when the report first came out that he was being charged with this stuff. 

It's all just another twist in a very weird career so far for Bates. Dude was the first ever sophomore to win Gatorade Player of the Year. He was basically labeled the 'next' one since like 14. He was supposed to be can't miss. He committed, then decommitted, from Michigan State. His dad started his own prep school in Ypsilanti. He ended up at Memphis for a year after reclassifying. 

Still with me here? 

Okay and then we have him leaving the team for a back procedure and coming back for the NCAA Tournament then eventually transferring back home. It's all been so weird and basically to the point now where everyone is calling him Lenny Cooke instead of the next. Not what you want as a sophomore in college. 

But he's going to have a chance to rewrite everything. It sounds like he'll be on the team for the opening game. That gives him a chance to play back home in the MAC. He *should* be awesome in that conference. The dude is talented, no matter what happened at Memphis last year. He has talent. It'd be crazy to say it any other way. Maybe the game slows down for him in a mid-major vs with Penny and all the expectations. Eastern also has some nice pieces around him so he doesn't have to be the 1-man show that we sometimes see at that level.