Howard was in attendance for Ypsilanti Lincoln's game, with Tim Hardaway Sr. joining him. Bates started slowly but picked it up.

Michigan head coach Juwan Howard was in to see Emoni Bates Tuesday night in his team's loss to Ann Arbor Huron. That and more ...

Ypsilanti Lincoln 2022 Emoni Bates had a tough first half (1 FG) mostly due to the Huron defense but he came to life in the second half and made it a game. Here are his highlights. @BatesEmoni @bf_ball_camp @_lhsbasketball pic.twitter.com/n8EmlCpEAC

Bates has been to Michigan State multiple times, and many believe MSU would be the team to beat if he played college ball. U-M has quietly been working on this one for a while, though, and Rivals.com's Corey Evans believes U-M would have a shot.

"I would just be guessing with Emoni Bates and his potential college landing spots, but, if he does decide to play college basketball, it is within reason to believe that Michigan will have a chance," he wrote.

"Prior to the hiring of Juwan Howard, the Wolverines were not entirely involved with Bates. Michigan State was the primary school that had invested any sort of interest in him. That changed once Howard took over. In the fall, Bates took an unofficial visit to Ann Arbor and last month, was on hand for a Michigan home game. For Bates’ season-opener, Howard and his fellow Fab Five teammate, Jalen Rose, were courtside. They wouldn’t have invested this type of interest in him if there wasn’t a real chance that Bates would be open to the Big Ten program.

"What this comes down to is whether the one-and-done rule is actually erased for members of the 2022 class and if he decides he would rather player in college compared to, what some recent prep stars have begun to do, and that is play a year overseas before entering the NBA Draft.

"For where things currently sit, Michigan and Michigan State are the likeliest landing spots for Bates thanks to the in-state ties and their early investment in recruiting the phenom."

Another in-stater, Jaden Akins, was in for U-M's game with Michigan State, and while he told us he's not planning to be in again (Michigan's last game is with Nebraska Thursday), the Wolverines have turned up the heat.