Emoni Bates and Ypsi Prep: How does this new basketball training house work?

If Ypsilanti Prep Academy is anything, it’s unique — at least to Michigan.  

While the name suggests a school, Ypsi Prep is a basketball training house for top teenagers, playing against the best high school teams in the country.

Instead of switching classes several times a day and sweating prom dates, these young men finish their core courses one at a time through a first-of-its-kind program, and spend the rest of their time preparing to play at the next level.

It opened this year but has already played on national television and was nationally ranked by Max Preps, primarily because of Emoni Bates, its star player and son of its founder, Elgin Bates.  

Emoni Bates, a hoops prodigy and five-star Michigan State basketball commit, is projected to be the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft whenever he is eligible. (Current NBA rules require draftees to wait a year after high school graduation, but that could change as early as 2022.) For now, he and about a dozen other teenagers, seven of them Division I prospects, comprise a roster that has played in Michigan, Texas and Ohio against some of the top-ranked players in the country.  

No. 1-ranked senior Chet Holmgren and several of his Minnesota high school state champion teammates beat Ypsi in Ann Arbor on Nov. 12 in the academy's first game. Then Duncanville (Texas), which rosters one of the nation's best sophomores, Ronald Holland, topped Ypsi on Nov. 28 in Texas. Ypsi has since beaten Ohio's ISA and Texas' Legacy School of Sport Sciences, each of which feature multiple Division I prospects.

Bronny James, son of four-time NBA champion LeBron James, and Amari Bailey, a top-five junior guard, are next for Ypsi on Jan. 9.

Jaden Akins, the former Farmington star and four-star prospect signed with Michigan State for the class of 2021, started the season with Ypsi Prep but left in December. Last week, Akins announced he was joining another prep school, Sunrise Christian Academy in Kansas, to finish his senior year.

The formation of Ypsi Prep and its ability to play games elsewhere has prompted questions about how it started and how it works. Elgin Bates billed it as a way to give Michigan’s top talent the most elite competitions. Here’s what we know:  

Is Ypsi Prep a school? 

No, and it doesn’t market itself as one. Elgin Bates was not specific this summer about the organization, registered as an LLC. in July. He hasn’t since publicly talked about the team, which had a game broadcast on ESPN2 and has its games streamed via a third-party subscription service. 

"Ypsi Prep is an academic-based basketball academy that provides its student-athletes an NCAA certified core curriculum while providing athletic and life skills training in preparation for college," Bates said via email.

Bates, who played Division II basketball and professionally overseas, has trained his son and others on the team through the AAU program Bates Fundamentals. The head coach for Ypsi Prep is Corey Tucker, who coached in Ohio for more than 15 years, according to his LinkedIn resumé.

When asked if Ypsi receives taxpayer money, Bates said it does not, and that team expenses are paid by a nonprofit foundation and local and regional sponsors.

Nike and Gatorade, along with a host of small businesses, sponsor the team.

More information about the roster — including four-star prospects Dillon Hunter, JaVaughn Hannah and Shawn Phillips and three-star prospect Marlon Barnes Jr. — and mission can be found on the academy’s website.  

Ypsi Prep partners with a separate entity, Arbor Valley Academy, to provide its education services and has no relationship with the Michigan Department of Education. Nor does Ypsi have a relationship with the NCAA’s eligibility center — the body that reviews each high school's or educational organization's courses for approval at the next level of athletics.  

What does MHSAA say about all this?

Nothing, really. Ypsi Prep plays outside of Michigan High School Athletics Association sanctions.

That means Ypsi Prep is not subject to the travel restrictions of MHSAA member schools — but it also cannot compete for a state title. Ypsi Prep has yet to play a team from Michigan, but has planned to play home games. 

Emoni Bates won an MHSAA title with his local public school, Ypsilanti Lincoln, as a freshman in 2019. Among 10,000-plus schools with athletics, only a few dozen, mostly small parochial schools and homeschools, play outside of MHSAA rule.

And none of them do it quite like Ypsi Prep. 

Will Ypsi Prep players qualify for Division I competition?  

If they complete courses at an approved institution, yes, but Ypsi alone doesn't provide that education. Each player must meet NCAA's "core" standards and provide transcripts from an approved entity; public school, private school, charter school or otherwise.

But the NCAA isn't in the business of authorizing an educational institution, per se. It tries to verify the institution can provide the required courses that high school athletes need to qualify for initial eligibility under NCAA rules. Then it can accept that student's transcripts. 

"It's not an accreditation process, because the NCAA doesn't have authority over high schools," said Tim Nevius, an attorney who regularly spars with the organization on behalf of student-athletes. "The NCAA is a college and university member association that sets rules that determine the eligibility of its players."

The NCAA’s eligibility center assesses each high school or education organization’s curriculum and can give it a variety of designations, with periodic reassessment to follow. Arbor Valley was approved for the first time in September.  

As a former NCAA employee, Nevius is well-versed in investigating misconduct on behalf of the institution. Now he has his own firm that represents players, but has no connection or knowledge of Ypsi or Arbor Valley.

He said it’s possible for a school or educational outlet to be cleared in a matter of months if their paperwork is right. As of now, it appears if students who play at Ypsi pass courses at Arbor Valley Academy, they would be eligible to play in college. They would have to meet the eligibility center's amateurism requirements as well.

What is Arbor Valley Academy?

Arbor Valley Academy is a newly created private school started by a University of Michigan alumnus with a history in IT and education. 

Marwan Issa said he founded Arbor Valley in 2019 to provide students with a specialized online-only education. About 30 pupils, including Ypsi Prep players, are enrolled at Arbor Valley; Issa expects that to grow to over 100 within a year or two and serve everyone from children with elite talent in athletics and arts, to those who just don't want a conventional high school experience.

Global Education Excellence, Arbor Valley's parent company, has 20-plus years of history starting schools in Michigan, Ohio and the Middle East. GEE was founded by Issa's father and oversees several educational organizations in the state known colloquially as charter schools, but in Michigan state code known as public school academies. However, AVA is privately funded.

"When it comes to the education, no matter what these kids are my responsibility," said Issa, who doubles as GEE's educational strategist and chief technology officer. "I have a focus on making sure those kids get the best educational experience and make sure they get to their next goal."

Issa said GEE schools have a glowing reputation in the education world. GEE's website says it serves 4,500 students across its campuses. 

GEE runs more than a dozen public school academies — mostly brick-and-mortar locations, though some are online only — in southeast Michigan. The Free Press has previously reported on concerns about the charter school system because the academies can be started by anyone with the capital, and can receive per-pupil taxpayer money.

But Arbor Valley is different; it receives no public money since it's a private school. 

The AVA schedule is year-round and tailors each student's plan to the courses that child needs. Students learn one subject at a time, studying that course for four hours a day for about a month. Once they master that class, they move on to the next, Issa said.  

He said AVA was in the works before he met Bates, but the two were connected by acquaintances and saw a fit. Then he set out to be cleared by the NCAA — the first time any GEE school went through that process.

As a private academy, AVA is funded by donations, tuitions and, for now, Issa's own money.

"The reason I took it one step further and made it private was because we were dealing with international students, and we're dealing with students who may not be from Michigan," Issa said. "... I needed that complete autonomy and flexibility to be able to work with these kids without worrying about potentially if this money is earmarked for this child or not."

Elgin Bates has been hands-off with classes, Issa said, allowing teachers to have full control of the education.  

Bates said Ypsi Prep student-athletes are required to maintain a 2.5 GPA and attend all classes. There is a zero-tolerance policy for unexcused absences of academic deficiencies.

Public files from the MDOE show the academy has "met the adequacy requirements for a State of Michigan LLC license as an educational entity effective August 2019."

Editor's note: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated Arbor Valley Academy is a private charter school. AVA is a private school, not a charter school.

Follow the Free Press on Facebook and Twitter for more news. Tyler Davis can be contacted at tjdavis@freepress.com or on Twitter @TDavisFreep.

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