In case you’re unaware, Jeremy Fears Jr. has dominated headlines for the past week and it all stems from his impressive NBA Combine performance that stirred up some draft buzz.
Unfortunately for Jeremy, no mock draft has him in the first round where he wants to be and I’ve only seen one from ESPN that have him listed as a second-rounder. The teams he worked out for have pick Nos. 1,10, 51, and 60, so unless a team off the radar made him a promise, he’s likely returning to Michigan State for his junior year.
But, in the event that he did stay in the draft, Michigan State would be facing utter disaster.
What would the negative effects be if Fears left Michigan State?
1. No point guard depth
This is the most concerning negative effect of potentially losing Fears, in my opinion. Without Fears, that means that true freshman point guard Carlos Medlock Jr. is going to have to step in and become that leader in the backcourt on day one. He’s going to be really good but he’s not expected to start until probably his sophomore or junior season.
Behind Medlock is… no one. Divine Ugochukwu transferred out and there’s no true point guard on the roster who could be his backup. It’d likely have to be a combination of Kur Teng and Jasiah Jervis.
In the event that Fears leaves, Michigan State would be in a terrible place when it comes to guard depth and leaning that heavily on a true freshman is far from ideal.
2. Unlikely Big Ten title contention
I won’t say it’s impossible, but if Fears leaves, there’s a very slim chance that Michigan State contends for a Big Ten title.
Think about it: Fears leaving means that a true freshman will be thrust into the starting lineup about a year or two earlier than he was expecting and he’ll have no true backup point guard to help out. The rest of the roster is built to chase a national title, but not having anyone outside of a freshman in the backcourt would likely crush this team’s chances of making any noise in March.
I hope I’m wrong if Fears does surprise everyone and leave and Medlock becomes a star immediately, but if that’s the case, Izzo may be looking for a new point guard again next year.
3. Tom Izzo’s retirement timeline
This is one of the negative effects that I don’t really see a whole lot of people talking about, but it’s a very real possibility that if Fears leaves, Tom Izzo will speed up his retirement timeline. Izzo has said that he’s not even considering retirement any time soon but losing the player that he compared to all-time point guard great Mateen Cleaves would absolutely crush him.
It’d obviously be 100 times worse if Fears were to transfer, but it feels like the championship window is open with the All-American point guard on the roster.
Add us as a preferred source on Google