Memphis Tigers head coach Penny Hardaway has added Emoni Bates (F, 6-9, Ypsilanti, Mich.) to the Tigers' 2021-22 roster after Bates reclassified to the Class of 2021 and signed a financial aid agreement.

Bates is a consensus top-five, five-star recruit by every major recruiting service. Capped off by Bates' signing, along with Jalen Duren's two weeks ago, Memphis has the nation's No. 1 recruiting class for the second time in three seasons (2019).

"We are thrilled Emoni is a Tiger," Hardaway said. "He is one of the fiercest competitors I have ever recruited, and he instantly makes everyone around him better. His will to win makes us a better team."

Bates suited up for Ypsi Prep Academy as a junior in 2020-21 and averaged 24.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. He started his high school career at Lincoln HS in Ypsilanti and helped the team to its first state championship as a freshman, and he was named the MaxPreps Freshman of the Year.

Bates followed that up with 2020 Gatorade National Player of the Year honors a year later, after he averaged 32.4 points, 9.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.2 steals per game that included a 63-point, 21-rebound outing.

Before coming to Memphis, Bates and Duren suited up as teammates on Team Final during this summer's EYBL circuit. Two summers ago, playing on his father's Bates Fundamentals 16U team at the 2019 Peach Jam, Bates was named to the All-Peach Jam First Team alongside Cade Cunningham, Jalen Green and Jonathan Kuminga. Cunningham and Green went 1-2 in the 2021 NBA Draft, and Kuminga was picked No. 7.

Bates chose Memphis over Oregon, Michigan State and the NBA's G League.

Tiger season ticket holders may renew their season tickets at THIS LINK, and fans interested in purchasing new season tickets for 2021-22 may use THIS LINK. The Memphis Ticket Office can also be reached during business hours at (901) 678-2331. Payment plans are available for season tickets.

Until Sept. 1, season ticket holders have first access to tickets for Memphis' Dec. 18 game against Tennessee at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn.

The Tigers won the 2021 NIT championship and finished the 2020-21 season with a 20-8 record. The 20-win season last year was Memphis' fourth in a row, including all three seasons under Hardaway. The Tigers are one of just 14 schools in the nation with four-straight 20-win seasons to their credit.

Hardaway has won 63 games in three seasons as Tigers head coach, which is the third-most among 50 head coaches hired before the 2018-19 season.

The Tigers are slated to return three of their top-five scorers from a season ago in Landers Nolley II (13.1 ppg), DeAndre Williams (11.7 ppg) and Lester Quinones (9.5 ppg). Joining the trio, Bates and the rest of the returning players are newcomers John Camden (F, 6-8, Downington, Pa.), Jalen Duren (C, 6-10, Sharon Hill, Pa.), Chandler Lawson (F, 6-8, University of Oregon), Johnathan Lawson (F, 6-6, Memphis, Tenn.), Josh Minott (G, 6-9, Boca Raton, Fla.), Sam Onu (C, 6-11, Malvern, Pa.) and Earl Timberlake (G, 6-6, University of Miami).