Jeremiah Fears Taken by New Orleans With the Seventh Pick of the NBA Draft

Jeremiah Fears is officially headed to Louisiana.

The former Oklahoma guard was selected by the New Orleans Pelicans with the seventh pick in Wednesday’s NBA Draft.

Jeremiah Fears is selected 7th overall by the @PelicansNBA in the 2025 #NBADraft presented by State Farm!

Watch on ABC & ESPN. pic.twitter.com/RJGTfd5vuf
— NBA (@NBA) June 26, 2025

“It means the world to me just being able to kind of come out here and show the world can bring and continue to take steps in the right direction,” Fears told ESPN after getting drafted.

Fears became the 11th Sooner all time to hear his name called in the first round of the draft, and the eighth OU player to go in the top 10.

Last year the Pelicans finished 21-61, which was 14th out of 15 teams in the Western Conference.

On Tuesday, New Orleans traded CJ McCollum, Kelly Olynyk and a future second round pick to Washington for Jordan Poole, Saddiq Bey and the 40th pick in this year’s draft.

Fears is set to be teammates with former No. 1-overall pick Zion Williamson, as well as Trey Murphy III, Dejounte Murray and Herb Jones among others.

Fears signed with Oklahoma after reclassifying to head to school one year early. Still, he averaged 17.1 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game playing in one of the toughest leagues in the country.

Porter Moser handed the keys to his offense over to the freshman, and Fears shot 43.4 percent from the field on 12.2 attempts per game, 85.1 percent from the free throw line and 28.4 percent form beyond the arc while averaging 3.9 3-point attempts per contest.

He dropped a career-high 31 points against Missouri on March 5, and Fears scored 20 points or more 12 times during the 2024-25 season, including both of his contests in the SEC Tournament and in the NCAA Tournament First Round against UConn.

Getting drafted wasn’t the only landmark moment for Fears on Wednesday.

Nick DePaula reported that the guard signed a multi-year shoe deal with Adidas, the brand that gave Trae Young his first signature shoe.

BREAKING: Adidas has signed rising guard Jeremiah Fears to a multi-year shoe deal. 📄✍️

“Three Stripes have been doing something special for awhile now,” Fears told me. “The relationship they have with their guys, and potentially having a signature shoe in the future was big.” pic.twitter.com/y9Myjncjaq
— Nick DePaula (@NickDePaula) June 25, 2025

“Three Stripes have been doing something special for awhile now,” Fears told DePaula. “the relationship they have with their guys, and potentially having a signature shoe in the future was big.”

Fears joins young, Buddy Hield and Austin Reaves as former Sooners who are active in the NBA.

Young was taken with the No. 5 pick in the 2019 draft, Hield was selected with the No. 6 pick in the 2016 draft, and Reaves went undrafted, but has become a key cog for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Fears became Moser’s first draft pick since arriving at Oklahoma on Wednesday.

The Sooners also hoped to see forward Jalon Moore selected in the second round of the draft on Thursday, though it was announced last weekend that Moore sustained a major injury during a pre-draft workout in San Antonio.

Fears will likely make his debut for the Pelicans during NBA Summer League, which will take place from July 10-20 at the Thomas & Mack Center and Cox Pavilion on the campus of UNLV in Las Vegas, NV.