It’s only been three games, but Jeremy Fears Jr. leads the nation in an impressive category.
Entering the 2025-26 season, Fears was considered Michigan State’s leader, and the glue guy who would hold the team together through all the changes that the program experienced in the offseason. The team looks a lot different, but Fears is a constant, and he’s helped the transition process immensely.
Fears also needed to take a big step this offseason — and he’s done just that.
Everyone wanted to see a more productive Fears this season, and it looks like he’s become one of the best passers in college basketball as well as just an all-around better player. Heck, his shooting even looks better — three 3-pointers against San Jose State were proof of that.
However, he leads the nation in one category that proves he’s taken that next step, and could live up to the “Mateen” references that Tom Izzo always throws his way. Fears is No. 1 in assists nationally.
That’s right, through three games, Fears averages 9.3 assists per game which actually tops the nation. He is the top passer in the country, and he’s doing it while averaging just 2.3 turnovers in 33 minutes per game. That type of assist-to-turnover ratio puts him in an elite class of point guards, but we have to realize it’s still early.
Three games is a small sample size, so we can’t get ahead of ourselves too much, but Fears looks considerably better with the ball in his hands, and the confidence is sky-high.
Fears has a long way to go if he wants to catch up to Cassius Winston’s Big Ten record of 890 assists. If he continues on this trajectory, however, he might smash that record by the end of his senior year. All he has to do is average around 6.4 assists per game throughout his career — he’s currently at 5.2 through 1.5 seasons.
Just imagine how many more assists he’d have if his teammates could hit threes consistently.