The Eastern Michigan men’s basketball team kicks off conference play at home tonight against Bowling Green State University. Despite getting national attention with the addition of Emoni Bates, the team has just a 3-10 record.
Head coach Stan Heath faces a big challenge in his 2nd year at EMU. He has brought in a lot of talent, headlined by Bates. But out of the 16 players on the roster, 15 of them are freshman and sophomores.
Bates, the Ypsilanti native, has lived up to his billing. The former national high school player of the year is leading the team in scoring and rebounds.
Tony Paul from The Detroit News says it takes time for a young team to gel and EMU is likely to challenge for a Mid-American Conference championship.
“So, while Emoni Bates is obviously going to get the headlines because of the local connection and the resume that he had coming out of high school and into college, there’s a lot of talent all over that floor. And if you’re going to key in on one guy, you’re going to have issues elsewhere on the court.”
With the slow start, the Eagles will likely have to win the conference title to qualify for the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1998.
Tonight's game against Bowling Green tips off at 7 p.m. at the George Gervin GameAbove Center. Pre-game coverage on WEMU begins at 6:50.
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