Going through the draft process as a top college basketball player is no longer rare. Years ago, when players declared for the NBA draft, it was almost a forgone conclusion that they weren’t going to come back. Most of the time, these guys hired agents and back before the NIL era, that effectively ended their college careers.
Fortunately for Tom Izzo and Michigan State, Jeremy Fears Jr.’s decision to go through the NBA draft process is nothing more than a formality.
That doesn’t mean that Fears is a lock to return, though.
The Spartan point guard just appeared in the latest ESPN NBA mock draft over the weekend after the lottery was locked in and he’s been paired up with a Big Ten rival during NBA Combine scrimmages.
Some big names slated to scrimmage, including Cameron Carr, Dailyn Swain, Tyler Tanner, Tarris Reed pic.twitter.com/8osy157S2R
— Jonathan Wasserman (@NBADraftWass) May 11, 2026
There are other familiar names on Fears’ scrimmage squad for the combine. He’s on Team Rivers and he’ll be teamed up with Purdue star Trey Kaufman-Renn and Arkansas’ Trevon Brazile. He’ll face Big Ten rivals like Braden Smith and John Blackwell (Team Adams), Bruce Thornton (Team Carpenter), and Nick Boyd, Nick Martinelli, and Kylan Boswell (Team Weems).
Fears will have a chance to prove that he can hang with the rest of the NBA prospects from the 2026 class and he’ll be splitting point guard duties with Tennessee’s Ja’Kobi Gillespie.
I’m also curious to see how well he works with Kaufman-Renn. I think the two are going to feed off each other and their pick-and-roll and pick-and-pop games are going to be effective.
This is a chance for Fears to improve his draft stock.
When are the NBA Combine scrimmages?
The teams are set for the 5-on-5s at the NBA Combine which will conclude the event which begins on Monday. We’re going to see a lot of grades and test results coming from the combine all week and I think Fears is going to test really well.
But when are the scrimmages?
According to ESPN, they’ll be taking place on Wednesday and Thursday. This will be the best opportunity for Fears to showcase his skillset and prove that while he’s just a second-rounder, he’s going to be more than ready for the NBA after one more year in college.
I don’t see Fears improving his grade to first-round-range, but I wouldn’t completely rule it out. If he dominates at the combine all week, I could see him moving from that mid-second round range to the early-second round.
We’ll find out a lot more after the scrimmages later this week.
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