Jeremy Fears Jr. is making headlines this season-and not just for his fiery play. The Michigan State point guard has stirred up some debate lately with a few physical on-court moments that have drawn scrutiny.
But while the chatter around his edge has grown louder, so has the applause for his performance. And make no mistake: Fears is playing the best basketball of his college career right now.
Since the calendar flipped to January, the redshirt sophomore has been on a tear. He’s reset his career-high in scoring not once, not twice, but three times.
And he’s not just filling it up-he’s dishing it out at an elite level, including a jaw-dropping 17-assist performance that now stands as his personal best. That kind of playmaking has earned him Big Ten Player of the Week honors twice and landed him squarely in the national spotlight.
He’s currently a top-10 finalist for the Bob Cousy Award, given to the nation’s best point guard, and one of 20 players on the midseason watch list for the John Wooden Award-the most prestigious individual honor in college basketball.
No Spartan has ever taken home the Wooden Award since it was first handed out in 1977. Fears is trying to change that.
Through 24 games, Fears is leading the 20-4 Spartans in scoring at 15.1 points per game. Michigan State sits at 10-3 in Big Ten play and holds the No. 10 spot in the national rankings heading into a key road matchup against Wisconsin.
But it’s Fears’ passing that’s setting him apart. He leads the nation in both assists per game (9.1) and total assists (219).
He’s already the only player in Michigan State history with multiple 15-assist games, and he’s just four dimes away from passing Magic Johnson for sixth on the Spartans’ all-time single-season assist list.
Yes, that Magic Johnson.
Fears, a Joliet, Illinois native, is one of four team captains for Tom Izzo’s squad this year. And he’s doing more than just scoring and passing-he’s contributing across the board.
He’s averaging 2.7 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game, shooting 44.2% from the field and an elite 89.9% at the free-throw line. The one area still lagging?
His three-point shooting, which sits at 25.4%. But with the way he’s impacting the game in every other facet, it’s hard to nitpick.
Still, Izzo is pushing him to raise the bar even higher-especially on the defensive end.
“What we need out of Jeremy, what I’ve been preaching to him lately, he’s gotta become just a dog defender, a bird-dog defender,” Izzo said. “He’s gotta up that a little bit more like the Cleaveses and the Waltons and the Lucases did-even Tum Tum.
Which, how many things can you need out of him? A lot.
But that’s the position he plays. I think for him to take his game to the next level, that part is gonna be important, too.”
That next level might be coming sooner than later, because Fears is about to be asked to do even more. Michigan State just lost Divine Ugochukwu, Fears’ primary backup at the guard spot, to a season-ending injury. That means more minutes, more responsibility, and more pressure for Fears as the Spartans enter the stretch run of Big Ten play and gear up for March.
But if the past few weeks are any indication, Jeremy Fears Jr. isn’t just ready for the moment-he’s built for it.