MSU's Izzo Responds to UM's May's Complaint of Jeremy Fears Jr.
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EAST LANSING, Mich. --- There has been a lot of talk about Jeremy Fears Jr.'s play style following Michigan State's loss to Michigan on Friday night.
For those who do not root for MSU, Fears is not exactly the most popular player. His ability to bait his opponents into fouling him, along with the flopping, already did not sit well with a lot of people. But the word "dangerous" has also started to make its way around. Not from random fans, but from UM's coach.
I defended Fears quite a bit yesterday
— ᗩᑎT ᗯᖇIGᕼT (@itsAntWright) January 31, 2026
But the LJ sequence, F1 on Yaxel, missed this clip from last night.. he’s too important to MSU to risk getting ejected for nonsense pic.twitter.com/HE1g487VjI
During the Spartans' game against the Wolverines, Fears committed a Flagrant 1 foul on UM's Yaxel Lendeborg, after he took him to the ground hard while Lendeborg was on a fast break. What's also making its way around the internet is a video of Fears subtly tripping Lendeborg on a separate play, which went uncalled by the referees.
On Monday morning, Michigan head coach Dusty May didn't mince words when asked about the trip, saying, "There were several plays that are very dangerous... They're not isolated incidents. The film is there, 40 minutes of it. It's not hard to find."
More on Situation, Izzo's Response
May didn't call Fears out by name himself, but the question from the reporter that spurred the response was about Fears, so it's pretty clear to infer what May is talking about here. The fortunate part of this situation is that May's press conference happened before Tom Izzo's on Monday, which allowed Izzo to be asked about May's comments.
"I don't care what Dusty says," Izzo said. "I don't care what they [UM] say. There were some things Jeremy did that I addressed on, but he and their point guard [Elliot Cadeau] were going at it were going at it pretty good. That's what happens in games like this."
Izzo also says that he's willing to have a dialogue with the Wolverines' coach about anything that he saw.
"If anybody did anything dirty, tell him to call me, and I would be more than happy to address it," Izzo added. "If it was physical play, that's the way that game's always going to be."
What is clear from this little back-and-forth, though, is that it really doesn't appear that Izzo and May like each other. In fairness, why should they? Rival coaches aren't necessarily supposed to be buddy-buddy. Izzo's and May's handshake after the game on Friday was pretty brief, which Izzo was also asked about.
"Some guys, I talk to [them in the handshake line]," Izzo said. "I have no interest in talking to my rival."
This saga probably isn't over. Michigan and Michigan State are going to meet up again in Ann Arbor on March 8 during both teams' regular season finales. The odds of Fears and Izzo getting a warm welcome there were already zero, but the odds may be in the negatives now.
Right now, this doesn't feel like the respectful, cordial rivalry that Izzo and John Beilein had in the past. There's some real bitterness behind MSU-UM right now.
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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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