Eastern Michigan announces Emoni Bates 'immediately reinstated' after plea deal

Emoni Bates, the former top hoops recruit in the country and transfer from Memphis will be eligible to play for Eastern Michigan this season as the school confirmed on Thursday that he would be reinstated following felony gun charges against Bates being dropped. ESPN’s Jeff Borzello and Pete Thamel first broke the news that a deal had been reached between Bates and the Washtenaw County Prosecutors office to drop the felony charge.

The charge is expected to be officially dropped during a hearing in court next week, per Borzello and Thamel. In a statement on Thursday afternoon, Eastern Michigan athletic director Scott Wetherbee said the school had been notified that he would be cleared of the felony.

“In accordance with EMU athletics policies, Mr. Bates is immediately reinstated to all athletic and campus activities,” Wetherbee said in the statement.

An official statement from Vice President/Director of Athletics Scott Wetherbee#EMUEagles pic.twitter.com/jFcN53ECMr

— Eastern Michigan Athletics (@EMUAthletics) October 13, 2022

Bates, a Southeast Michigan native, transferred to Eastern Michigan in his hometown of Ypsilanti, Michigan, after spending one season at Memphis. He was arrested in mid-September and charged with carrying a concealed weapon and altering the identifying marks on it, both of which he plead not guilty then.

His lawyer, Steve Haney, negotiated a plea deal with the prosecutors where Bates will plead guilty to one misdemeanor count of “attempted illegal transportation of a weapon,” according to ESPN. That charge will be dropped upon Bates completing a misdemeanor diversion program.

Shortly following the arrest in September, Thamel had reported that the situation was not as black-and-white as it might’ve seemed.

According to a police report obtained by ESPN, Bates was driving a black Mitsubishi when he ran a stop sign and was pulled over at which time he informed officers there was marijuana and a handgun in the car. A subsequent search of the vehicle turned up a handgun underneath the drivers seat and, according to ESPN, the serial number under the barrel of the handgun had been filed away.