By JACOB POLACHECK
Emoni Bates was awarded the Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year on Tuesday, becoming the first sophomore to ever win the award.
Bates, a 6-foot-9 wing from Lincoln (MI), is considered by many to be the best high school prospect in the country, regardless of class.
“It feels good to win the award,” Bates told ESPN. “I was really surprised when I got it. It showed me hard work is paying off. It feels really good.”
“A lot of people talk, everybody has an opinion, and I appreciate the people that support me. But I really try to keep a level head and stay humble. I still got a long way to go. I just try to stay humble and stay in the gym.”
Class of 2022 star @BatesEmoni becomes the first sophomore to win the Gatorade Player of the Year and talked about it here pic.twitter.com/Vjsyl3HDXz
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) April 14, 2020
Bates won Michigan’s Gatorade Player of the Year award as a freshman after leading Lincoln to its first state championship. He averaged 32.4 points, 9.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.2 steals in 2018-19.
As a sophomore, Bates led Lincoln to a 19-3 record and a spot in the District 18 state tournament final against Ann Arbor Huron, which was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Bates had his best game of the season and of his career thus far on Feb. 18, when he finished with 63 points and 21 rebounds in a double-overtime win over Chelsea.
The Class of 2022 star has been compared to a young Kevin Durant — and may go straight from the preps to the pros if the one-and-done rule is collectively bargained out by 2022, as Adam Zagoria wrote this Forbes.com piece over the summer.
“If I can go straight to the NBA out of high school, it’s a go for me,” Bates told ESPN Tuesday.
This is the 35th year Gatorade has given out the award, and Bates is the first player who will have the opportunity to win it three times. LeBron James, Greg Oden and Brandon Knight have won it two times apiece, while other past winners include Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, Alonzo Mourning and Ben Simmons.
James Wiseman won the award in 2018-19.
Photo: Jenna Kieser/MLive
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