How Jeremy Fears Jr. Became Michigan State's New Star Player
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Think about how good Jeremy Fears Jr. has been for Michigan State this season: 12 points per game, nearly 10 assists per game, and some great defense. Then think about how Fears has two more full seasons of college basketball in front of him after this season is over.
The hype and excitement around Fears is real. Tom Izzo had compared his leadership to Mateen Cleaves' and Fears' assist-to-turnover ratio of about 4.5-to-1 is highly impressive. That's all combined with MSU's first 7-0 start in 11 years, with three victories already over ranked opponents.
Fears is playing like one of the best players in the country right now, and is on a trajectory to possibly become one of MSU's all-time greats.
He's not too worried about it, though. Fears just wants to hoop.
Fears' Path Here
After Michigan State beat San Jose State on Nov. 13, Fears was asked about the next game, which was against Kentucky at Madison Square Garden. It was a glitzy matchup against another blue blood in perhaps the most famous basketball arena on Earth.
"I'm excited to play basketball again..." Fears said in response. "When I play basketball, I'm grateful. It was taken away from me for nine months. So any time I get a chance to watch film, go over a scouting report, and play basketball without missing time is always grateful and blessed."
It was a humbling perspective. While it can be exciting that Fears might have so much time left in East Lansing, that is partially the case because of a great trauma to him. He just wants to play basketball because there was a time when he didn't know what his future with the sport looked like.
While on winter break of 2023 in his hometown of Joliet, Ill., Fears was shot in his left thigh. That ended his true freshman season and, after the NCAA granted Fears his year of eligibility back, is the reason Fears is a redshirt sophomore, rather than a junior.
"Basketball can be taken away from me --- away from anyone --- at any moment," Fears said during a February episode of The Journey on Big Ten Network.
Fears were back in time for the beginning of last season. Izzo said a few times that he still hadn't fully recovered from the wound, though, more specifically that Fears' left leg wasn't quite as explosive as it was before. Immediately after the incident, he had to learn how to walk again, and there was some concern that Fears would never be able to become the level of player he was before.
Even though he began the year below 100%, Fears was Michigan State's starting point guard the entire season. He only missed one regular season game against Oregon, and that was because of illness, not injury. Fears was a key component of the Spartans' run to a Big Ten title, the Elite Eight, and he finished the year third in the Big Ten in total assists during his first full year of college hoops.
Having that much impact as a redshirt freshman is impressive enough. Doing it after suffering what Fears suffered and then most of the offseason rehabbing, rather than practicing, is something else. This past summer was really Fears' first actual offseason in college, which opened up so many possibilities.
"This was my first real basketball summer where I was able to work on my game, work on myself," Fears said after the Detroit Mercy game on Nov. 21. "I just feel like I made a huge step in my basketball development.
"I'm still getting better... and every day I'm striving to keep getting better."
The Jump
Fears used his first full offseason in college to the fullest. The improvement from last year to this is difficult to understate, and again, Fears was pretty good last year, too. Fears is averaging more points, rebounds, assists, and steals than last season.
Per KenPom, Fears has the highest assist rate in the entire country. He's received credit for nearly half of all the assists Michigan State has made so far this season. Fears was already a great passer last season, which makes his big leap there intriguing.
"I think it's little details, such as where the ball is placed," Fears said about the differences between good and great passes. "Passing matters. I think it matters where the ball is placed. I try to hit my guys' laces in their hands every pass.
"If I pass it at their feet or too high, that matters about the shot. So I try to make sure I hit them in the same spot, right in their hands, to where it's easy for them and they can just make it work."
But there's also the improved shot-making ability. Fears could shoot a jump shot last year, but his shooting motion didn't look like a guy who truly wanted to, and he didn't really shoot it often. It had an odd hitch and always seemed a little surprising when it went in.
Over the offseason, Fears got to work on that, too. He worked with Izzo and his agent, Mike Miller --- a 17-year NBA player who shot 40.7% from three for his career --- over the summer, getting reps in and tweaking some of the details in his form.
- "It's confidence, too," Fears said about the improvement in his shot. "It's so I'd be confident in every shot that I take. The coaches think it's going in, my team thinks it's going in, so there's no reason that I shouldn't."
He's now shooting more shots and making a higher percentage of them from both inside and outside the three-point arc this season compared to last. He just scored a career-high 19 points against 16th-ranked North Carolina, which featured a flurry of mid-range jumpers. Fears has three games with 15 points or more in his career --- all three have been during this season (seven out of 55 career games).
- "Last year, teams went under [screens]," Fears said after the UNC game. "So this year, I put in the work, trusted my coaches. And my teammates trust me to knock it down and take that shot, so just knock it down and take it."
After that victory over the Tar Heels, Fears and the 11th-ranked Spartans will nearly certainly move into the top 10 of this coming Monday's AP Poll. They'll then have another two big games ahead of them. Michigan State will host Iowa for its Big Ten opener on Tuesday, but the heavyweight bout is against No. 4 Duke next Saturday.
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A 2025 graduate from Michigan State University, Cotsonika brings a wealth of experience covering the Spartans from Rivals and On3 to his role as Michigan State Spartans Beat Writer on SI. At Michigan State, he was also a member of the world-renowned Spartan marching band for two seasons.
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