Love or Hate Him, Fears' Value is Undeniable for MSU

EAST LANSING, Mich. --- Everyone has an opinion about Jeremy Fears Jr. these days. If you wear green and white, it's probably positive. Otherwise, probably not so much.

There is one thing that Fears' detractors are not going to say, though. Through the Grayson Allen comparisons and complaints about his foul-baiting, no one is actually going to say he is a bad basketball player or deny his impact.

This isn't some astute observation, but all of this worry about Fears' "dirty" play has taken away from the conversation about Fears' true value as a player. I, myself, am a guilty party in this.

I mean, Fears had 26 points and 15 assists to two turnovers in a game against the No. 5 team in the country, leading No. 10 Michigan State to an 85-82 win in overtime. According to ESPN Research, Fears was the first Big Ten player with 25+ points and 15+ assists in a game in at least 30 years. Fears didn't do this against Michigan School for the Blind; he did it against an Illinois squad that had entered Saturday on a 12-game win streak and is one of the best teams in the country.

More on Fears

It's largely on Fears that the discourse has taken this shape. Yes, he made a dirty play when he tripped Michigan's Yaxel Lendeborg last week. Yes, he made a dirty play when he backwards-kicked that Minnesota player. No, he did not make a dirty play with that reviewed trip (again, Mirkovic's words, not mine).

This was not an issue for Fears pre-Michigan, though. The discussion has definitely spiraled a little bit. Some questionable plays from one two-game stretch 72 games into a career doesn't make a player dirty. People had already disliked Fears for being a nuisance to play against (which is fine, disliking someone's style is normal), but the recent developments had given people an excuse to really dislike him.

OK, that's it for that. Alas, even if you do truly think Fears is dirty and this and that, he's still one of the best players in the nation, whether you like it or not. Fears is up to averaging 15.1 points and 9.1 assists per game this season. That assist number is the highest in the country, and Fears is doing it without any elite offensive weapons around him.

Legendary bowler Pete Weber once said, "Hate me or love me, you watched. That's all you could do." No matter what your personal feelings about Fears are, just remember that when you watch him, you're watching one of the nation's best.

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