From MattD today:
A solid source informed me over the weekend that “ Emoni Bates has zero intention of ever suiting up for Michigan State.” While I haven’t spoken with Emoni or his father directly on the issue, I think this is probably an accurate claim as of today based on all the information we have.
I’m going to take so many victory laps if this happens. I already know MSU fans will start acting like they never thought it was gonna happen
Financially, I don’t think playing college basketball will ever make sense for Bates.
The only way I can see him playing a year at MSU is if the G-league fails with their new select program or the pandemic stretches on longer and all other options are off the board.
Spartan fans can be an interesting group. Instead of just taking the Bates and Christie recruiting victories (which are huge victories) and being happy about them, they always gotta take it a step further. I’m seeing articles about how “not only will Bates absolutely play for MSU, but he’ll actually reclass to 2021”, and “Not only will Max Christie absolutely play for MSU, he’ll actually play multiple years”. 
That being said, they are on fire in recruiting for 2021 and 2022 right now 
About to land another top 25 prospect in 2022 from Canada. He also could reclass up potentially. Enoch Boakye. They are taking advantage of the recruiting momentum Forsure.
I got swarmed by MSU fans when I said there’s a 1% chance he plays 2 years at MSU. And I was being generous.
That’s OK.
First, we’re building a Virginia, Villanova, Gonzaga type roster - talented guys who will play in college for 2-3 years or more.
Second, Izzo always underachieves with young, elite offensive talent. His bread and butter is with experienced, tough, hard-nosed guys who can play his physical brand of defense. Guys like Christie won’t have the strength (nor perhaps the desire) to do that. The 2018 MSU squad, IMO, was far more talented than the 2019 squad, but the 2019 team was a better roster for Izzo (in terms of what he’s good at coaching) and had a better season.
In the past, even with some of JB’s best teams, MSU was able to physically beat up and bully Michigan at times (2013 at MSU, 2014 Big Ten title game as examples). With the kind of guys Juwan is recruiting now, and his style of play, I think that’s going to be a thing of the past going forward.
praying for a full-fledged March Madness next year. the hype would be off the charts
Agreed , my favorite sporting event by far. Was pretty sad this year.
I’m sure this will be non-controversial. Cassius says he didn’t go to Michigan because the players were too nice during open gyms.
… looks at 2015 and 2016 rosters … I don’t think you’d really call those rosters hard nosed. 
There’s also more to the story than that, but everything gets boiled down to a soundbite on a podcast at this point.
I do think that is somewhat representative of how each program perceived itself at that time, though. So makes sense to say in hindsight.
We will never know for sure the real answer because Beilein got tired of waiting and offered Simpson before Winston committed. After that, Winston committed to MSU and that was all she wrote. As a four year Spartan, of course he isn’t going to be too complimentary about Michigan now.
It’s kind of like Draymond. Draymond is a dick now, especially about Michigan, but Beilein offered/believed in him before Izzo. There were rumors at the time that Izzo offered Draymond to keep him from going to Michigan. Obviously the story changes after the player becomes indoctrinated into the program though. Winston is a nicer guy than Draymond, but the point is that recruiting stories get altered in hindsight.
I couldn’t tell you the words to Sparty’s fight song, but I have to assume “Thank you sir, may I have another” has to be in there somewhere.
Let’s be real. If you caught him in an honest moment, he would say he chose MSU because they slap the floor so you know they mean business.
I never believed that Cassius was coming to UM. JB was wise to move on.
Yeah that’s pretty much how I feel. There’s no way that’s the actual reason he chose MSU, but it could be emblematic of the reason he chose MSU and it makes for a good story. Funny enough we decided to sign X when Cassius wouldn’t commit, and he was a big part in changing the “softness” that Michigan was perceived with, which changed as soon as Cassius went to college
I think that’s a fairly defensible assessment of Michigan’s team at that point, yeah. But, perhaps ironic given what he’s said there, Winston led some of the “nicer” MSU teams in recent memory, especially when it comes to their on-court conduct in the rivalry. The last two years, when it was clearly Winston’s team, featured fairly respectful behavior on the court. Could be just my perception, but the amount of woofing and posturing was way down.
Vince Baldwin who is very tied into the family aau program and Michigan prep hoops told Sam Webb in September of his senior year Cassius Winston was coming to Michigan. Beilein lost his patience after he tried to move the official so he could go to homecoming though and the rest is history.
It’s kind of like Draymond. Draymond is a dick now, especially about Michigan, but Beilein offered/believed in him before Izzo. There were rumors at the time that Izzo offered Draymond to keep him from going to Michigan. Obviously the story changes after the player becomes indoctrinated into the program though. Winston is a nicer guy than Draymond, but the point is that recruiting stories get altered in hindsight.
This was even suggested by some sparty insiders at the time of his commitment. Draymond was beileins top priority as soon as he got the job while MSU was pretty wishy washy on him. Greens mom definitely wanted him at um too, I believe green even confirmed that recently.