Felony gun charges filed against former five-star recruit and current Eastern Michigan men's basketball player Emoni Bates are expected to be dropped next week, Bates' lawyer, Steve Haney, told ESPN on Thursday in a phone interview. Bates was arrested and taken into custody in mid-September on two gun charges.
Bates was pulled over on a routine traffic stop after failing to stop at an intersection on Sept. 18, where police then discovered a firearm. He was jailed and faced two felony charges: one for carrying a concealed weapon and another for altering ID marks on a weapon, according to WXYZ in Detroit.
Haney said in September that Bates was driving a borrowed car when he was pulled over for running a stop sign. Police discovered a handgun and marijuana in his vehicle after initiating a search and discovered that the serial number under the barrel of the gun had been removed.
Bates was once ranked as the No. 1 prospect in his high school class and widely viewed as one of the best basketball prospects in the world regardless of classification. The Ypsilanti, Michigan, product originally committed to Michigan State before signing with Memphis a year ago. In 18 games, he averaged 9.7 points and 3.3 rebounds while struggling to live up to the lofty expectations that preceded him.
After his freshman season at Memphis, Bates opted to enter the transfer portal and was courted by a number of schools before ultimately deciding this summer to return closer to home by playing for Eastern Michigan. He'll be a sophomore this coming season for the Eagles, who went 10-21 and finished in second-to-last place in the MAC a season ago.
