MSU's Fears Named Finalist for Elite National Award

No matter what one thinks about him, very few point guards can run the show and see the floor the way Jeremy Fears Jr. can.

Michigan State's "floor general" is having a fantastic season. At the end of his second full regular season with MSU, Fears has averaged 15.5 points and a nation-leading 9.1 assists per game. His value to the Spartans' season has been immeasurable. With him, Michigan State looks like and is close to being a 2 seed in this year's NCAA Tournament. Without him on the floor, MSU is a total shell of itself.

Fears is now getting recognized as one of the best at his position. On Monday, the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame announced that Fears was one of the five finalists out there for the 2026 Bob Cousy Award, which is given annually to the nation's top point guard.

The other four finalists are Jaden Bradley (Arizona), Darius Acuff Jr. (Arkansas), Kingston Flemings (Houston), and Braden Smith (Purdue).

More on Fears' Season

The growth from Fears as both a scorer and a passer from last season, where he was still the starting point guard on a Big Ten championship-winning team, has been tremendous. Fears averaged 7.2 points and 5.4 assists per game last season while playing 23.7 minutes per game. He'd probably get more minutes if the backcourt didn't also feature several other capable contributors, including Jase Richardson, Jaden Akins, and Tre Holloman.

MSU's backcourt has been much more thin this year. Akins ran out of eligibility, Richardson declared for the NBA Draft, and Holloman transferred. With inconsistent two-guard play all season and a Divine Ugochukwu injury that has forced Denham Wojcik into a primary backup point guard role, it's pretty much all on Fears to find ways to get things done.

Since Ugochukwu suffered his season-ending foot injury at Minnesota, Fears has averaged 35.1 minutes per game in the eight games since. Everyone kind of holds their breath and hopes the glue holds when Fears goes to the bench for a two- or three-minute breather, if that.

Fears' passing is the biggest thing that makes him great, though. His assist rate of 52.4% this season, per KenPom, is comfortably the highest number in the entire country. He's just 11 assists away from passing Cassius Winston's single-season assist record at MSU. Fears is also 33 assists away from setting the Big Ten record, which was set by Purdue's Smith last season.