Ranking MSU's 5 Most Important Players Following Fears' Return
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Everything now seems set for Michigan State.
The fanbase got a brief sense of joy and relief when Jeremy Fears Jr. announced on Wednesday that he would be returning to MSU and withdrawing from the NBA Draft. His return sets up what may be Tom Izzo's most complete roster in quite a while. These five players will be the biggest keys to next year:
5. Kaleb Glenn (R-Jr.)
I was a bit torn between Jordan Scott and Kaleb Glenn here for the fifth spot, but I went with Glenn here because he's more of an unknown. We already learned that Scott is and will be a solid player for the Spartans, but Glenn hasn't seen live action yet.
He was supposed to be the wing shooter Michigan State seemed to be constantly missing last year, but Glenn missed the entirety of the 2026-27 season with a knee injury. He had shot 41% from three the season before that at Florida Atlantic, also averaging 12.6 points per game.
Glenn is going to be a candidate to be a starter next season. If he's not in the initial five, he'll definitely be one of the first guys off the bench. If he's looked at as a second transfer portal pickup rather than a returning player, my point of view might make more sense.
4. Jasiah Jervis (Fr.)
A lot is going to be on the plate of Jasiah Jervis early. One of MSU's recurring issues last year was a lack of consistency at the shooting guard position. The hope with Jervis, who is as close to being a 5-star recruit as one can be, is that his arrival will prevent that issue from popping up again.
Jervis is the top recruit in this year's recruiting class for the Spartans, finishing at 31st overall on the 247Sports Composite. His precise rating of .9893 is higher than what Fears and Jase Richardson got coming out of high school. Jervis is the best guard recruit Michigan State has gotten since Max Christie, the last true freshman to start right away for MSU.
3. Anton Bonke (Sr.)
The biggest storyline early on in the offseason was which center Michigan State would end up getting. Izzo ended up landing on Charlotte transfer Anton Bonke, who averaged 10.6 points and 8.3 rebounds per game last season.
How Bonke adjusts to the Big Ten level will be crucial for the Spartans' outlook this coming season. 4-star freshman Ethan Taylor and redshirt sophomore Jesse McCulloch are there to back him up at the five, but the expectation for next season is to contend for titles. That requires the big men to play at a pretty high level.
2. Coen Carr (Sr.)
The top two here are going to be the stars of the team (you can guess who No. 1 is by now). Coen Carr took a step forward last season, jumping to 12.0 points and 5.4 rebounds per contest, but there are other levels of his game he needs to unlock.
It comes down to three-point shooting. Carr made just 27.6% of his shots from behind the arc last season, which was the first year in which his jump shots were commonplace. Just getting that percentage up into the mid-30s will not just open up the offense a ton for Michigan State, but also help him get onto NBA Draft boards.
1. Jeremy Fears Jr. (R-Jr.)
Still in front, but quite a bit, is Fears. He led the team in scoring with 15.2 points per game and led the nation with 9.4 assists per game. Fears was a first-team All-Big Ten honoree and a Second- or Third-team All-American, depending on where one looked.
EvanMiya.com ranked him as the second-most "indispensable" player in college basketball last year, only behind Duke's Cameron Boozer. The same site just had him as the third-best player in the entire sport, only behind Boozer again and Michigan's Yaxel Lendeborg.
Both Boozer and Lendeborg are both off to the NBA, though. Getting Fears back isn't just MSU getting its leader and best player for another year; it's a potential National Player of the Year candidate.
Sort of like Carr, Fears will need to show improvement from behind the arc, though. He made 32.1% of his threes last season. Alas, I think his form, mid-range game, and free-throw shooting numbers indicate that Fears is actually a better shooter than the raw numbers suggest. He's probably set for an even bigger season next year.
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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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