MSU Basketball: Tom Izzo Updates Status of Jeremy Fears, Jaxon Kohler

In his first media availability since hearing the news of his freshman point guard suffering a gunshot wound to the leg, Michigan State men's basketball coach Tom Izzo said his focus regarding Jeremy Fear is on the 19-year-old's recovery.

"It's a tragedy what's happened. It's really a shame," Izzo said. "Jeremy is coming back tomorrow and he'll be with us here, rehabbing here...I talk to him every day."

Once Fears is back on campus, Izzo said the focus will be on assessing his injury and finding out the best path forward to help his freshman make a full recovery.

"Try to get some idea of what happened, try to get some idea of what his injury is," Izzo said. "Our doctors have talked to the doctors in the emergency room there, but there's been no specialist that I know of who have looked at anything and that's what we'll do when we get him here."

While the focus is on Fears' recovery, Izzo was asked if there was any chance Fears could return to the Spartans' lineup at any point during the 2023-24 season. The head coach didn't rule out the possibility, but had no timetable of any potential return.

"I guess it's not 100 percent done, but it's secondary, meaning — from what we hear, if it was a little bit to the left, a little bit to the right it could have been worse," Izzo said. "So, in that respect, he's supposed to fully recover but as far as the timetable on that, anytime you're dealing with a bone it puts the timetable in jeopardy...When he comes up here I'm going to have him meet with our doctors and specialists and we'll probably know more early next week."

Izzo said that Fears is in good spirits and is looking forward to getting back on campus and rejoining the team, though Izzo noted that the realization that he won't be playing basketball for the foreseeable future may be another hurdle for Fears to overcome.

"He's pretty mentally tough," Izzo said. "He wants to get back here. That's one thing he wanted to do, the second thing is I think you're always good until you get back here and you see the guys playing and you realize you can't play...But if there's one thing he is, he's physically and mentally tough."

Fears had become a regular part of Michigan State's rotation in recent weeks and Izzo will have to distribute the freshman's minutes to other guys on the roster. Sophomore guard Tre Holloman could see his role increase, while starting guards A.J. Hoggard, Tyson Walker and Jaden Akins could take on more minutes as well. Freshman forward Coen Carr could get more minutes on the perimeter as well.

"I know that A.J. played 35-36 minutes in games at the end of last year, Tyson did, Jaden did. We're going to have a good rotation, we're just missing a guy that was really coming on and that's the way it is," Izzo said.

"A.J.'s been really good. He came back, weight was good, he came back I think it pretty good shape and I'm really pleased with A.J. So, if that keeps continuing that will really help."

As the backup point guard, Fears absence could be felt most in who Michigan State chooses to run its offense with Hoggard off the floor. Izzo would prefer Walker remain in the shooting guard spot, not wanting to put more on his leading scorer's plate.

"It's hard to be a scorer and a [distributor], and then you've got to be the best defender. I mean, Cash [Cassius Winston] could do it as a scorer and a passer, the third part was suspect. Tyson is my best defender," Izzo said.

"Tre could play some point, Tyson could play some point. Our rotation, five guys, is a good rotation — Coen just has to come on faster than he thought. Tre, thank God, has been playing really good for us and he's been one of the bright spots of the season so far."

Another player, who has been sidelined since the start of the season, is sophomore center Jaxon Kohler. Nursing a foot injury that required surgery preseason, the original hope was that Kohler would be back by Christmas, but Michigan State is being cautious with the sophomore.

"[Kohler] is back walking around, shooting and everything but he's still a week or so away," Izzo said. "I don't know an exact timetable...the timetable would be, he's working out now individually, he does some of the shooting drills with us and hopefully by next week he'll be starting to practice."

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