Louisville Makes Top Six for Memphis Transfer Emoni Bates

The former No. 1 overall prospect entered the portal after just one season with the Tigers.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Louisville men's basketball head coach Kenny Payne has already landed a former five-star recruit through the transfer portal, and now he could be close to getting a former No. 1 overall prospect.

Former Memphis forward Emoni Bates told On3's Joe Tipton his list of top six schools, and the Cardinals are among the lucky half-dozen teams still in the running. Michigan, Arkansas, Seton Hall, DePaul and Eastern Michigan round out his list.

Coming out of high school, the 6-foot-9, 190-pound wing was the consensus No. 1 player in the Class of 2022, but opted to reclassify to 2021. He was once committed to Michigan State before decommitting and enrolling at Memphis after his reclassification.

Bates had an up-and-down year during his lone season wth the Tigers. While he did average 9.7 points and 3.3 rebounds per game and was a regular starter, that also came with a 38.6 shooting percentage and 42 turnovers to 23 assists.

He missed the final nine games of the regular season and Memphis' three games in the AAC Tournament due to a lower back injury. He came off the bench in the Tigers' two NCAA Tournament games against Boise State and Gonzaga, totaling eight points in 15 minutes played.

While it will be a fierce battle down the stretch for the Ypsilanti, Mich. native, Louisville does have a unique recruiting advantage that could sway Bates' decision.

Head coach Kenny Payne reportedly hired Justin Perez - the son of Roc Nation CEO Desiree Perez - to be his Director of Basketball Operations. Bates was the first college basketball player to sign an NIL deal with Roc Nation, which is an agency founded by rap mogul Jay-Z.

Louisville has just six returners from their 2021-22 squad, but are starting to add to their roster for next season. Payne recently secured commitments from Tennessee forward Brandon Huntley-Hatfield and Class of 2022 wing Devin Ree, and also got small forward Kamari Lands - Louisville's lone other pledge in the 2022 cycle - to sign his National Letter of Intent.

(Photo of Emoni Bates: Petre Thomas - USA TODAY Sports)

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