MSU's Fears Receives First-Team All-Big Ten Recognition
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Michigan State's "floor general" is now officially among the conference's top players.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Big Ten officially announced that MSU point guard Jeremy Fears Jr. had received first-team all-Big Ten honors from both the coaches and the media. Fears averaged 15.5 points and a nation-leading 9.1 assists per game this season, leading the Spartans to a 25-6 overall record with a 15-5 mark during Big Ten play.
During his 20 games against intra-conference competition, Fears' scoring went up to 17.6 points per game while he averaged 8.8 assists to just 2.3 turnovers a contest. Michigan's Yaxel Lendeborg deservedly ended up winning Big Ten Player of the Year, but if the award was for "most valuable player," it would be hard to argue against Fears.
The other first-team all-conferences from both the coaches and the media were: Lendeborg, Keaton Wagler (Illinois), and. Braden Smith (Purdue). The coaches slotted that fifth slot to Pryce Sandfort (Nebraska), while the media gave it to Bennett Stirtz (Iowa).
Other Honors for MSU
No other MSU player was included on the conference's second-team or third-teams by the coaches or the media. There was a list of "honorable mentions" from the conference, though, and Jaxon Kohler was on there. Carson Cooper was also the team's Big Ten sportsmanship honoree.
Kohler and Cooper have steadied the Spartans' frontcourt all season, combining to average 23.5 points and 16.2 rebounds per game during the regular season. Both players are also seniors who have spent their entire careers in East Lansing, which has made their progressions as players a little more special to watch.
More on Fears' Season
That assist number is getting closer and closer to setting some records, too. Fears is currently at 281 assists this season. He is just 10 assists off tying Cassius Winstons' single-season program record from the 2018-19 season, and is 11 away from breaking it. Fears is also 33 assists away from breaking the Big Ten's single-season record, which was set at 313 by Purdue's Braden Smith last year.
What remains is the question of whether Fears will get enough games to reach that Big Ten mark. MSU has at least two more games remaining this season; it starts its conference tourney run on Friday and then will play its first NCAA Tournament game on either Thursday, March 19 or Friday, March 20. That should be enough for him to get the Michigan State single-season mark. The Spartans likely need to win a couple more games to buy Fears the time to pass Smith.
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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