Jeremy Fears has been playing like an All-American for Michigan State this season, there’s absolutely no doubt about that.
The sophomore point guard from Illinois has led the Spartans to a 20-4 start to the season with a 10-3 mark in Big Ten play. He’s put the team on his back on several occasions, leading to his 15.1 points and 9.1 assists per game, pacing the Big Ten in the latter category. Actually, he’s leading all of college basketball in assists.
Fears may not only break the Big Ten’s single-season assist record, previously held by Braden Smith who could break his previous highs this year as well, but he could become the first Spartan since Cassius Winston in 2019 to win the Big Ten Player of the Year award.
He could also become the first Spartan to be named an All-American since Cassius did it in back-to-back seasons in 2019 and 2020.
There are several things that Fears could do this season that would put him in Michigan State’s history books, but I’d be willing to bet he’d rather win a title than any personal accolade. For that reason alone, I think Michigan State’s in great hands.
While he’s more concerned about winning, the Big Ten Player of the Year award has to be in the back of his mind somewhere — as it’s in all of ours.
Fears has the numbers to take home the award.
How Jeremy Fears compares to past MSU Big Ten POY winners
Michigan State has had nine Big Ten players of the year since the induction of the award back in 1984-85. The last was Cassius in 2019.
But how does Fears compare to the rest of the Spartans’ winners, numbers-wise?
Jeremy Fears: 15.1 points, 9.1 assists, 2.7 rebounds, 44.2% FG
- Scott Skiles (1985-86): 27.4 points, 6.5 assists, 4.4 rebounds, 55.4% FG
- Shawn Respert (1994-95): 25.6 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 47.3% FG
- Mateen Cleaves (1997-98): 16.1 points, 7.2 assists, 2.4 steals, 40% FG
- Mateen Cleaves (1998-99): 11.7 points, 7.2 assists, 1.8 steals, 40.6% FG
- Morris Peterson (1999-00): 16.8 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.3 steals, 46.5% FG
- Kalin Lucas (2008-09): 14.7 points, 4.6 assists, 2.1 rebounds, 39.5% FG
- Draymond Green (2011-12): 16.2 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 44.9% FG
- Denzel Valentine (2015-16): 19.2 points, 7.8 assists, 7.5 rebounds, 46.2% FG
- Cassius Winston (2018-19): 18.8 points, 7.5 assists, 3.0 rebounds, 44.8% FG
Scoring-wise, Fears would be the lowest-scoring Spartan winner since Kalin Lucas in 2008-09. However, he would have the most assists of any Michigan State winner ever — if he keeps this pace, he’d have the most by a whopping 1.3 per game.
So how does Fears compare to past winners? He may not be the highest-scoring, but he is over 15 points and has nine-plus assists per game which is more than all Spartan POY winners. His field goal percentage is also right on track — thought he couldn’t shoot, though?
If Fears wins the Big Ten title, I think the award is his.