Eastern Michigan's Emoni Bates receives 18 months of probation for gun charge

There was a time when 6-foot-8, 200-pound small forward Emoni Bates appeared to be "the next big thing" in the NBA pipeline.

He was a five-star recruit in 2021, ranked as the No. 5 recruit in the same class that featured, Paolo Banchero (who went No. 1 overall to the Orlando Magic in this past draft), Chet Holmgren, Shaedon Sharpe, Scoot Henderson, and Jalen Duren, among others.

Simply put, Bates was an elite basketball prospect, but he was underwhelming in his one year with Penny Hardaway and the Memphis Tigers (averaging just 9.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.3 assists in 19 games) and his draft stock went from low to almost below the floor when he was arrested on a felony gun charge in September.

From potential top NBA Draft pick to felony gun charge. That's quite the fall from grace.

If there's any good news for Bates — now at Eastern Michigan — it's that his fall from grace may be soon over.

Bates did end up pleading guilty to a gun charge, but he was able to plead down from two felonies — carrying a concealed weapon and "altering ID marks" — to a misdemeanor, per ESPN.

As such, his sentence is rather light, especially compared to jail time.

Bates was sentenced on Wednesday to 18 months of probation.

"I'm very pleased, given what happened that night," Bates' attorney, Steven Haney said, per ESPN.

Though Eastern Michigan did initially suspend Bates, he was reinstated to the team and as a student at Eastern on Oct. 13 after the felony charges against him were dropped.

He's played in 10 games so far for Eastern Michigan this season, and he's averaging 19.4 points and 5.7 rebounds a game.

Hopefully, for Bates, this will be the end of his troubles and the start of his comeback story.