1674616397 Former top recruit Emoni Bates scores 29 straight points and

Former top recruit Emoni Bates scores 29 straight points and gets love from LeBron James

YPSILANTI, MI - JANUARY 17: Emoni Bates (21) of the Eastern Michigan Eagles scores during the Eastern Michigan Eagles game against the Kent State Golden Flashes on Tuesday January 17, 2023 at the George Gervin GameAbove Center in Ypsilanti, MI , a free throw.  (Photo by Steven King/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Emoni Bates looked like a star again for Eastern Michigan. (Photo by Steven King/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Emoni Bates was once the biggest name in amateur basketball. Little has gone according to plan since then, but that doesn’t mean he can’t play like a future superstar at times.

Bates, who now qualifies for Eastern Michigan, showed his potential Tuesday by scoring 29 straight points for the Eagles in a conference game against Toledo. While going supernova, he made seven 3-pointers and racked up a few dunks:

Bates finished with 43 points on 15-of-23 shooting (9-of-14 from the 3-point range) and seven rebounds.

Few MAC games capture the interest of the NBA, but at least one notable figure was impressed by Bates’ performance: Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James, who has praised Bates since he was in high school.

James isn’t the only NBA star to take notice of Bates, as he’s also caught the eye of Kevin Durant since moving from Memphis. Bates was compared to both players at the height of his high school career.

Emoni Bates is trying to find a new path into the NBA

Bates made history in 2020 when he became the first sophomore to be named Gatorade National Player of the Year, an award previously won by Jayson Tatum, Karl-Anthony Towns, Bradley Beal and, yes, James, who has won it twice , was received .

For a time, it looked like Bates might spearhead a new generation of prep-to-pro players, but instead he regrouped and ended up with Penny Hardaway’s Memphis program as part of a historically good recruiting class.

Bate’s career as a Tiger hasn’t exactly been outstanding. At 17, he was the youngest player in college basketball and struggled to keep up with his peers. In an injury-limited first year, he averaged 9.7 points per game while shooting approximately 38.6% from the field. It was a poor year overall for Memphis, but the Tigers went 10-2 in games without Bates and 12-9 with him.

That season ended with Bates entering the transfer portal and going to eastern Michigan, located in his hometown of Ypsilanti, Michigan. That tenure began brutally when he was arrested on gun charges in September, but he eventually apologized and pleaded guilty.

On the field, Bates looked more like a top recruit for the Eagles. He came on Tuesday with a team-high average of 19.3 points and 5.6 rebounds while shooting 34.4% from deep. Granted, those numbers are against worse competition and for a team that started the game 4-15, but Tuesday showed that for a player once considered a suspension for NBA success, there’s still a modicum of stardom left has.