Deciding to leave college early in order to pursue an NBA career is never an easy decision, and if not made at the correct time, it could cost you a future in the league.
Right now, Jeremy Fears Jr. is facing a major decision with Michigan State. He’s likely sitting down with Tom Izzo and his family to discuss next steps after testing the draft waters at the NBA Combine. He entered his name into the draft last month because he wanted to get feedback and after improving his stock at the Combine, the sure return is no more.
There’s a non-zero chance that Fears decides to remain in the NBA draft and bet on himself despite being a second-round projection — at best.
This exact situation has taken place under Izzo before and the Hall of Fame head coach could use that to his advantage in terms of convincing Fears that the NBA will still be there next year. Going to the draft as a likely mid-to-late second-rounder comes with few guarantees and even less stability. One former Spartan point guard found that out the hard way.
Jeremy Fears Jr. needs to look at the Marcus Taylor situation
One of my first memories as a Michigan State basketball fan was the 2000 national title win and the subsequent Final Four season in 2001. There were some early departures from some elite talent that also sticks out in my early memories.
Zach Randolph decided to head to the NBA after the 2000-01 season, Jason Richardson also left a couple of years early, Shannon Brown departed early, and one more Spartan made one of the biggest mistakes of his life by throwing away a legacy that could have been up there with Mateen Cleaves if he had stayed 3-4 years.
Marcus Taylor faced a similar situation to Fears and the similar numbers between the two players are actually eerie.
Taylor committed to Michigan State after being named a McDonald’s All-American and he averaged 7.4 points and 3.6 assists while shooting 39.6% from the field as a freshman. Throwing out his true freshman season that was cut short in December, Fears also committed to Michigan State and was named a McDonald’s All-American before averaging 7.2 points and 5.4 assists while shooting 39.7% from the field.
As a sophomore, Taylor perked up, averaging 16.8 points and a Big Ten-leading 5.3 assists per game (low number, I know). He also shot 40 percent from the floor and improved his 3-point percentage to a little over 36. Fears also saw his offense improve, averaging 15.2 points and a Big Ten-leading 9.4 assists per game. He shot 43.1% from the floor but saw his 3-point shooting plateau. Both guys were also fairly automatic from the line as sophomores.
Taylor tried to parlay that breakout sophomore campaign into a first-round NBA draft pick and was given bad advice. He fell to No. 52 overall and never played in the league, instead carving out a seven-year career overseas.
Both guys had similar freshman and sophomore years and Taylor was on the verge of becoming a Michigan State legend but he bet on himself and lost.
That should set the precedent for Fears to return for at least one more year.
Taylor will forever be known as one of Izzo’s biggest “what ifs”.
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