A spring and half-summer of Michigan State sports fans having been relegated to being virtual supporters of virtually nothing during months of lockdown, quarantine and phased re-openings took a 180-degree turn toward shouts of celebration on Monday when a generational talent, Emoni Bates, made a surprise commitment to Spartan basketball.

Bates is more world-wide famous than any athlete who has ever committed to Michigan State.

Bates, a 6-foot-9 wing virtuoso and the nation’s top-ranked basketball player for the class of 2022, committed to Michigan State during a brief, live news appearance on ESPN.

Bates, a native of Ypsilanti, Mich., who will be a junior in high school this fall, is regarded by many as the most talented high school basketball player since LeBron James. He was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated in October with the headline: “Born For This: Magic, Michael, LeBron … And the 15-year-old Who’s Next in Line.”

His still-blossoming game carries hybrid hints of Kobe Bryant’s off-the-dribble skill with some of Kevin Durant’s length and range. Bates is still growing and will add strength to his face-up wizardry. As of now, there are new plans that some chapters of his growing legend will be written in East Lansing.

Rumors began circulating on Sunday that a Bates announcement was pending for Monday.

Bates verified those rumors with his decision on national television, shortly after 1:40 p.m. on Monday.

Bates’ sudden commitment to Michigan State wasn’t packed with the prolonged drama and mystery of Michigan State basketball’s previous most important verbal commitments in program history - Earvin Johnson’s 1977 verbal to Jud Heathcote, and Mateen Cleaves’ 1996 pledge to Tom Izzo - but the news sent off a spontaneous wave of virtual celebration in Spartanland.

Bates’ decision is important for the moment. Whether or not it carries the long-term impact of Magic and Mateen remains to be seen.

Bates’ decision comes with some reservations. There’s a chance he will never play college basketball, depending on the new NBA/G League pathway program. This year’s top high school player, Jalen Green, opted for the G League pathway program, and a $500,000-plus deal, rather than play a year of college. Green’s class is the first to have the opportunity to go this route. It’s an option the NBA created this spring after the league declined to change its rules of requiring players to spend one year out of high school before becoming draft-eligible.

Bates, if he stays in high school for two more years, could have the potential to command tens of millions of dollars from a combination of the G League pathway program and endorsements, mostly endorsements. His pre-NBA marketability is likely to rival that of Zion Williamson.

Here’s the caveat: G League players must be 18-years-old in order to be eligible for the G-League pathway program. Bates won’t turn 18 until January of 2022

If he reclassifies and becomes a high school senior this fall, he will be 17-years-old in January of 2021 - too young for the G-League pathway or any potential changes to the one-and-done NBA rules. Reclassifying and becoming a high school senior this fall/winter would make Bates just right for a year of college at Michigan State. That’s the scenario Tom Izzo and Spartan fans will be hoping for.

“I’m not sure what sure what the future may hold but I do know right now I will be committing to Michigan State,” Bates said on ESPN, Monday, while donning a white Spartan hat. “I want to say thank you to Coach Izz and Coach OG (Mike Garland) for staying with me since I was a young ‘un, and just being there through the process and all that MSU stuff.”

Bates’ father, Elgin Bates, says Emoni will be in position to graduate from high school by next spring. That would provide for the possibility of reclassifying, coming out of high school early, and attending Michigan State for a year.

“It’s up to him,” Mr. Bates told ESPN.com. “It’s a day-by-day thing for him. It might be a decision he decides to make later on.”

Bates has become close with current Spartan players such as Gabe Brown, with whom he often works out in the Ypsilanti area. Bates usually congregates toward Brown’s locker stall when Bates is in the Michigan State locker room after attending Spartan games.

Bates and his father attended MSU’s Big Ten Championship-clinching victory over Ohio State on March 8. Emoni and Elgin remained on the court at Breslin Center throughout the post-game championship celebration, Senior Day festivities and post-ceremony afterglow. Emoni and Elgin were literally among the last people to leave the court, long after Michigan State fans had filed out of Breslin Center. They looked comfortable and happy, while talking with Garland and others.

Emoni shared a laugh with Cassius Winston in the Spartan locker room after the game. Bates had the look of a player with strong interest in becoming a Spartan. I’ve seen that look before. The only question is whether the professional pathway makes sense for him to do that.

As of today, Bates is saying he isn’t interested in the G-League pathway.

"It's good for certain players,” Bates told ESPN.com. “ That's a lot of money. I don't really plan on, I don't think I'll do it. It's good for some people, but I don't think I'll head that route."

On June 15, when college coaches were allowed to begin making phone calls to rising junior recruits, Izzo was the only coach to reach out to the Bates family. Elgin indicated on Twitter that he was irritated that more schools didn’t reach out to his son, and said this would make Emoni’s college choice an easy one.

But with those words, there was always the question as to whether Emoni would attend college at all. For now, Michigan State’s interest and relationship with Bates is being rewarded.

Izzo's approach with the Bates family has been one of care, consideration and comfort. He gave them space. Izzo never pressed them for information on their plans for 2021 or 2022. Izzo just recruited Bates the way a top high school player should be recruited. The Bates family appreciated it and has enjoyed it.

“They’ve been showing love to me since I was in the seventh grade,” Bates said. “They’ve been recruiting me hard since then. I just know they showed that their love is genuine and I’m going to go up there. They’ve just been here for a long time. I’m big on loyalty and they showed me all loyalty so I’ve got to show them love back.”

Elgin Bates wore a big smile during the ESPN newscast on Monday.

“I was upset at first (about other coaches failing to reach out to Emoni on June 15) but the one that he really wanted to go to was recruiting him heavy and they’ve been consistent the whole way,” said Mr. Bates. “So as long as he got the offer he wanted and wanted to participate at the school he actually wants to play for, I’m happy.”

The second, and perhaps most important, news drop of the day was Mr. Bates’ announcement that he is opening a prep school, Ypsilanti Prep Academy, which ESPN reports will be a satellite campus to Aim High Academy in Michigan.

Emoni Bates wore a long-sleeve Ypsi Prep Academy t-shirt during his announcement, Monday.

ESPN reported that Bates’ new prep academy team will be coached by Mr. Bates, Bates’ summer travel team coach Corey Tucker, and former Charlotte (Mich.) High School basketball coach Jerry Ernst. Ernst has experience in establishing charter academy schools. He briefly coached at Walter French Academy, a now-defunct program he helped found in Lansing in the late 1990s.

Among other things, Ernst’s Walter French Academy team played in 1998 against New Britain (Conn.) St. Thomas Aquinas Prep, and it’s star player, a teen-aged Lamar Odom, in a near-empty gym for a late night game in Lansing that few were aware of.

Today’s top teens are playing in empty gyms once again this summer, if they have access to gyms at all.

It’s unclear what the high school or prep basketball seasons will look like in the winter. And it’s unclear whether Emoni Bates will play one or two more years of high school basketball, and whether he will play a year of college basketball. But by the time those decisions are made, the basketball world will hopefully be returning to a semblance of normalcy. In the meantime, the Michigan State basketball world could change drastically - if only for one year - if Emoni Bates follows through with the plans he set in motion on Monday.