How has Emoni Bates been performing after returning to the game following dropped charges: All you need to know

Eastern Michigan basketball star Emoni Bates made the headlines in September 2022 for all the wrong reasons.

Bates was arrested and charged with felony gun charges after being pulled over in September in Michigan. The 18-year-old was charged with carrying a concealed weapon and altering the identification marks on the firearm but his felony charges were dropped the following month, in October.

Instead, Bates was sentenced to 20 months probation on the misdemeanor charge of transporting a loaded firearm in a vehicle. Washtenaw County Circuit Judge Patrick Conlin also waived a fine that could have been as high as $2500 and the conviction itself would be expunged from the player’s record once he has completed the probation.

As a result of the dropped felony charges, Emoni Bates was reinstated in the Eastern Michigan basketball team on October 13th. The following article looks at his overall performance since his charges were dropped.

Emoni Bates performance review since felony gun charges were dropped: An overview

Standing at 6 ft 9 inches, Bates is a versatile guard capable of shooting from deep. He has been averaging 19.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 1.1 assists this season. This is in stark contrast to the previous season during which he played for the Memphis Tigers. For the Tigers, Bates produced 9.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1 assist per game, as a 17-year-old college rookie.

Bates had a strong debut for the Eagles this season, scoring 30 points and grabbing 5 rebounds against Michigan. In the following games, Bates scored 20 points against Bradley and 19 points against Oakland University.

His return and subsequent improvement since the dropped charges has been commendable, with the forward ranking 34th in average points from the 2022-23 season until now.

Emoni Bates, now a sophomore, will look to improve in the coming years and, hopefully, enter the NBA draft. Bates' efficiency has also improved significantly this season, with an overall shooting percentage of 52.6%.

The 18-year-old obviously has quite a lot of time to improve his overall shooting and has registered almost 8.2 2-point attempts in 11 games thus far, converting a healthy 36.6%. While there is plenty of scope for improvement, it would be fair to say that Emoni Bates is on the right track as far as his basketball is concerned, since the felony charges were dropped.