Why MSU's Fears Firmly Deserves All-America Consideration
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The list of players who one can absolutely say are better than Jeremy Fears Jr. is shrinking by the day.
No. 7 Michigan State escaped, and I mean escaped, with an 88-79 overtime victory over a Rutgers team that entered just 9-11 overall and 2-7 during Big Ten play. MSU improved to 19-2 and 9-1, respectively, with the win.
The Spartans were not the better team before overtime. That's not my opinion; it's Tom Izzo's that he shared during his postgame press conference. Michigan State would have had no chance in this game without Fears, who dropped a career-high 29 points along with his nine assists that almost feel government-mandated these days.
Fears was just named co-Big Ten Player of the Week after a 17-point, 17-assist game against Maryland. This game against Rutgers, though, cements that he should be in the running for several more illustrious awards than that.
Fears' Hot Streak
If it were not for Purdue's Braden Smith, Fears would be leading the nation in assists. Smith is now at 190 for the season, while Fears is inching close at 186. Fears turns it over noticeably less than Smith, though --- Smith has 65 this year, Fears has 47.
Fears is inching towards Smith's abilities as a scorer, too. Smith is averaging 15.1 points per game this year; Fears is at 14.1 now after his 29-point outburst. Across their last two games, Smith is averaging 17.7 points per game; Fears is averaging 16.9.
It's pretty close. Fears probably has an uphill battle for Big Ten Player of the Year, though. But he should absolutely be a relative lock right now to be a First-Team All-Big Ten recipient this season.
Why stop there, though? Again, Smith and Fears are first and second nationally in assists. The person in third place averages 7.4 assists per game, just about 1.5 assists per game behind Fears. Just like how Smith was a First-Team All-American last season, Fears absolutely belongs in the conversation this season.
The popular analytics site, KenPom, is taking notice. Fears is ranked seventh in the site's list of candidates for the National Player of the Year Award, as of early Wednesday morning. He's also ranked ahead of Smith, making him the Big Ten's top contender. The final No. 1 player on KenPom's list has also ended up winning the Wooden Award, too.
There's also one more thing to be excited about with Fears: he has two more years of eligibility left after this season is over.
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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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