(WXYZ) — The top high school basketball player in the country is no longer a high school basketball player.
Emoni Bates is reclassifying to the Class of 2021.
The Ypsilanti native has narrowed his choices to four place for where he'll play the 2021-22 season. Bates listed Michigan State, Oregon, Memphis and the G-League as his final four destinations in a post on Instagram. He had previously committed to MSU, before re-opening his recruitment.
Bates is a junior, but he won the Gatorade national Player of the Year award as a sophomore, the first boys basketball player to ever do that.
As far as the NBA Draft is concerned, Bates won't turn 18 until January, so as the rules stand now, he can't enter the NBA Draft until 2023. According to ESPN, "Draft rules state a prospect must be a year removed from his high school graduating class and turn 19 in that calendar year in order to go into the draft."
