Jeremy Fears Jr. is well aware that he’s disliked as a player — but he doesn’t care

When Jeremy Fears Jr. came to Michigan State, he was already a confident point guard, holding the nickname “The Floor General” from his high school days. That nickname carried over to Michigan State for the McDonald’s All-American, and some were likening him to Mateen Cleaves.

And by “some”, I mean Tom Izzo.

Izzo has had some elite point guards over the years, but Mateen stands out because he brought the Hall of Famer his lone national title. Being compared to him by Izzo is probably the best compliment you can get as a point guard because that means he believes you can win him a title.

Fears was off to a solid start to his freshman season before a tragic off-court injury kept him out of basketball for the rest of the year, and he had to spend his offseason re-learning how to do even the most casual things like walking and running. He worked hard on his rehab and became a really good redshirt freshman point guard, winning the Big Ten title in 2024-25.

Michigan State fans love what they’re seeing in Fears, for the most part.

Jeremy Fears isn’t well-liked on the court, and that’s fine with him

This season, he’s gotten even better, but some on-court antics have caused college basketball fans to flip on him. He went from being celebrated as a great point guard to hated for being “dirty” or talking too much trash or flopping.

Fears is self aware, so he knows all too well that he’s disliked as a player.

And, according to an appearance on The A-List Hour podcast, he doesn’t really care.

”I don’t wanna be liked, I guess you can say, while we’re playing,” Fears said. “My goal is to win.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself. Fears plays the way we all probably would if we were in his shoes. He tries to get in opponents’ heads, he talks a good game, and he backs it up. Sometimes he’ll play mind games, other times he’s just letting his play do the talking. He’s learned to be great at both.

Fears is going to break some records at Michigan State and he still has two years left after this one, if he decides to remain a Spartan throughout his collegiate career. He has a chance to be mentioned as one of the Spartan legends and make that Michigan State Mount Rushmore, but he needs to make sure the “controversial” plays are kept to a minimum.

Fears has a legitimate shot to be Izzo’s best point guard ever.