Jeremy Fears Jr. is going through the NBA draft process right now and although he’s trying to make an impression on scouts and front offices, Tom Izzo is confident that he’ll return.
The Hall of Fame head coach has spoken out a couple of times about his confidence level in a Fears return, but the All-American point guard is still going through the draft process with the goal of getting feedback and returning as a better player than he went in as.
However, he’s starting to pop up on mock drafts which isn’t ideal for the crowd that’s expecting to get him back for a junior season.
In fact, he appeared in the latest ESPN NBA mock draft following the NBA Draft Lottery. The lottery was decided on Sunday and the Wizards got the No. 1 overall pick and many believe that’s where BYU star AJ Dybansta is going to end up. About 1.5 rounds later, ESPN’s Jeremy Woo believes that Fears could go to the Phoenix Suns.
Woo has Fears going No. 47 overall to the Suns, owned by Michigan State legend Mat Ishbia. The pick would make sense seeing as Devin Booker needs some backcourt help and Ishbia has the obvious connection to Izzo and the Spartans but it wouldn’t be wise to leave with a mid-second-round grade and two years of eligibility remaining.
If anything, this latest mock draft proves that Fears should return for at least one more season in East Lansing — if not two.
The latest ESPN mock has Fears going later than Braden Smith (No. 40) and Bennett Stirtz (No. 21). I just don’t believe that he’d be the third-best Big Ten point guard in this draft. And if that’s how NBA teams view him, he will have to come back.
Jeremy Fears Jr. will benefit from a return
I don’t believe that Fears is going to take the leap and stay in the NBA draft this time around, so that means he’ll be back in East Lansing for a junior season if all goes as planned.
We’ve seen massive growth from Fears dating back to his true freshman season that was cut short and turned into a redshirt year. After basically learning how to walk again, Fears became an All-Big Ten-caliber point guard as a redshirt freshman, leading Michigan State to a conference title and Elite Eight run. As a sophomore, he became an All-American and arguably the best point guard in the conference. I can only imagine what one more year would do.
Fears’ growth each year has been drastic and if he’s going to continue that trend, the 2026-27 campaign could see him contending for national player of the year and a Final Four.
Another year — or two — of Fears would benefit both parties. And I believe that’s what’ll happen, regardless of this mid-second-round draft projection.
Add us as a preferred source on Google