CBB: Memphis adds 5-star forwards Emoni Bates, Jalen Duren

According to Shams Charania, 5-star small forward Emoni Bates announced his commitment to the Memphis Tigers on Wednesday, August 25. Bates is the 4th ranked prospect in the class of 2021 per 247 Sports, and chose Memphis over G-League Ignite, Michigan State, and Oregon. The commitment was just enough to vault Memphis to the top of the class rankings, edging out Michigan, Gonzaga, Tennessee, and Duke. Jalen Duren, who is the 5th ranked prospect in the 2021 class, also committed to the Tigers in early August and will reunite with Bates after the two were AAU teammates on Team Final this summer.

Bates discussed the decision to team up with Duren on the Field of 68 podcast: “Me and him always talk. We talked way before this even happened, before AAU started, we said we wanted to do the next level together. So me and him are going to rock out together. We’ve got a bond already, playing with Team Final.” In addition to Bates and Duren, Memphis will likely start DeAndre Williams, Lester Quinones, and either Landers Nolley or Earl Timberlake to form a projected preseason top-10 team. The Tigers start the season on Tuesday, Nov. 9 versus Tennessee State, before a must-see matchup against Tennessee on Dec. 18.

Penny Hardaway hasn’t reached the tournament in three seasons since returning to his alma mater but there’s no doubt this will be his best team. Bates also talked about how Hardaway impacted his decision: “I just feel like coach Penny will prepare me for the next level, especially being the same size and me and him mostly the same position so he’s going to help me in the best way. And then on my visit, it just felt like home so I chose Memphis. Going to college, I want to show that I can do it all so he’s going to help me with that too, especially playing the point guard so that’s really going to help me grow in other areas too."

Photo Credit: The Athletic.