Report: Emoni Bates father refutes story on son's future

Elgin Bates, the father of Memphis Tigers forward Emoni Bates, has refuted a report that the freshman’s future with the team is in question, per Jason Munz of Memphis News.

The initial report from Jake Fischer alleged that Bates’ tenure with the Tigers could be nearing an end despite having not finished his first season in Memphis. Fischer did not provide any additional details in his reporting as to why Bates’ season with Memphis is in peril.

“Sources: Emoni Bates will not play in Memphis’ game at Cincinnati on Thursday, as his future with the program has suddenly come into question,” Fischer wrote, continuing that the freshman “has been projected as a 2023 NBA Draft prospect and had previous contact with OTE and overseas opportunities.”

However, the story from Munz tells a much different story; instead, Bates’ father, Elgin, says that the Memphis freshman merely is battling injury.

“I have spoken with Elgin Bates, Emoni’s father,” Munz wrote on Twitter. “He tells me Emoni has been dealing with back pain for the past 3 weeks and has an appointment this week to see a specialist about it. ‘I have no clue what that’s about,’ Elgin Bates said.”

Munz added that Elgin said Bates will not play on Thursday against Cincinnati due to the lingering back pain unless he is cleared to play. Bates, a freshman, is averaging 10.7 points per game on 38.6 percent from the field, 7.3 rebounds per game and 1.2 assists per game.

Bates has played in 16 of Memphis’ 19 games this season, and while his father says the back injury is lingering, it’s one that hasn’t forced him out of a game in the last several contests. The last game that he missed came on Jan. 4 against Tulsa, a game that the Tigers were still able to run away with a 67-64 victory.

Bates has legitimate prospects of playing in the NBA, but his draft stock isn’t being helped by the Memphis Tigers’ lackluster, 11-8 performance under Penny Hardaway this year. The Tigers are currently in fifth in the AAC.

Bates, a native of Ypsilanti, MI, was the No. 5 overall recruit in the 2021 recruiting class. The 6-foot-8, 200-pound forward was ranked a five-star recruit via the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies, making him the No. 1 small forward in the class and the No. 1-overall recruit in the state of Michigan.

Memphis is set to tip-off at Cincinnati at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, and evidently, Bates will be out for the contest.