Tom Izzo and Jeremy Fears have one of those rare player-coach relationships that really only come around once a decade.
The Michigan State duo are close and will continue this teacher-student relationship long after Fears leaves East Lansing much like Mateen Cleaves and Draymond Green have. They’re close because they’re both so competitive and that often leads to sparks during timeouts where you’ll see them going at each other but it’s all out of respect.
Izzo loves a player who stands up for himself and shows that he wants to win and Fears has told his head coach before that he wants to win worse than him.
Two competitors who put winning at the top of the list of priorities are going to clash every now and then, but they’re ultimately on the same page chasing the same goal: a national title.
Fears was close to giving up that goal for his NBA dream this week, but he announced on Wednesday that he would be coming back to Michigan State for his junior year. And he posted the news on an Instagram story, sharing a photo of him and Izzo with a heartfelt message attached.
things you love to see: pic.twitter.com/umnwSTZ1ra
— Connor Meltdowney (@Connormuldowney) May 28, 2026
“Forever loyal.”
That statement right there just goes to show how close the relationship is between the All-American point guard and the Hall of Fame head coach. Izzo “took a chance” on Fears and the point guard from Illinois returned the favor by remaining loyal and returning to Michigan State, putting his NBA aspirations on hold.
If you ever hear from rival fans that players hate playing for Izzo (they do say this, believe it or not), just show them this picture.
Tom Izzo has his Mateen 2.0
Izzo has stated several times over the past couple of years that he sees a lot of Mateen Cleaves in Fears. He believes that he has a special point guard who, if he lives up to his potential, could go down as one of the greats to ever come through the program.
The Mateen praise is something that can’t be overlooked because Izzo doesn’t just throw around that name. Mateen holds a special place in Izzo’s heart and comparing Fears to him is noteworthy.
We’re about to really see how similar to Cleaves that Fears is this season if he can lead Michigan State to a Final Four and maybe even Izzo’s second national title. If he were to lead Michigan Satte to a championship, he would go down as a Spartan legend and we’d probably never see another Spartan wearing the No. 1 jersey again.
If he’s going to be Mateen 2.0, he’s going to have to will Michigan State to the top of college basketball. Luckily he has the team behind him to do it.
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