DETROIT — One-time high-school basketball phenom Emoni Bates has been reinstated by the Eastern Michigan basketball team following his arrest on felony gun charges last month.
Bates is pleading down to a misdemeanor, and EMU confirmed his status with the team Thursday.
"The Eastern Michigan University department of athletes has received notification that there is an agreement between the Washtenaw County Prosecutor's Office and Emoni Bates' defense team that would result in the felony charges being dismissed," Eastern Michigan athletic director Scott Wetherbee said in a statement. "In accordance with EMU athletic policies, Mr. Bates is immediately reinstated to all athletic and campus activities."
Bates, 18, is pleading down to a misdemeanor charge, with a hearing scheduled for 1:30 Wednesday in the 22nd Circuit Court. His attorney, Steve Haney, confirmed the plea deal to The Detroit News on Thursday.
Bates is pleading down to a misdemeanor count of attempted illegal transportation of a weapon. According to online records, Bates' case was moved out of district court earlier this week, and into circuit court Thursday.
Bates was arrested Sept. 18 following a traffic stop and charged with two felonies, carrying a concealed weapon and altering ID marks on the weapon. Bates' attorney said at the time that the car Bates was driving wasn't his, nor did the gun belong to him. Haney said he stands by those statements in light of the plea deal.
"Those are facts that are undisputed," Haney told The News. "It's obviously a very favorable resolution and the prosecutor's office exercised proper judgment.
"Were mistakes made that night? Yeah. Unfortunately, this 18-year-old, when he makes a mistake, the world's gonna know about it. ... This is a fair outcome."
The Washtenaw County Prosecutor's Office didn't immediately return a request for comment.
A probable-cause hearing last week set Bates' future court date for next month, though Haney was working on speeding up the process to get Bates back on the court. Eastern Michigan's season starts Oct. 27 with an exhibition against Grand Valley State, then a Nov. 7 regular season game against Wayne State followed by a high-profile Nov. 11 game against Michigan at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
Bates returned to his hometown of Ypsilanti after one up-and-down collegiate season at Memphis. His commitment to Eastern Michigan led to a huge spike in season-ticket sales, with the basketball program already having sold more than twice as many as last season.
If he plays for EMU, he will be the first five-star basketball recruit ever to play in the Mid-American Conference.
"I'm very happy he's going to be back with his teammates and getting back to what 18-year-olds should be doing," Haney said. "We want to put this behind Emoni so he can move forward as fast as possible."
