Jeremy Fears is the next Cassius Winston

I'll be the first person to tell you that comparing current players to past legends is one of the most unfair things you can do to someone. But at the same time, it's impossible for me to not notice the similarities between Jeremy Fears Jr. and Cassius Winston.

Nobody needs to be reminded about how special Winston was during his career. He is one of the greatest Spartans to ever step foot on a basketball court, and I will forever be upset he didn't get one final shot at bringing home Tom Izzo's second national championship.

But ever since Winston graduated, Michigan State has been missing that truly dynamic point guard who can lead the team to victory every single night. That however is changing in a hurry with Fears.

Now before I get too ahead of myself, let me state that Fears currently is not at the level that Winston was during his junior and senior seasons. But I saw glimpses of that during Fears' freshman season before he was injured and I saw it once again during Michigan State's 94-87 win over the Madrid All-Stars.

So what are these similarities that I see between these two guys?

For starters, Fears has complete control of this team and offense at all times. He doesn't make many silly mistakes and seemingly always has the offense operating in a way where they will get a good shot in nearly every possession. Winston was elite at this.

I also can't help but see the similarities to Winston for Fears as a passer. There is not a greater "assist-getter" in Big Ten history than Winston, but Fears could challenge Cassius' conference record if he stays for four more seasons.

Fears' final game before he was injured last season saw him rack up a career-high 10 assists. That is unheard of for a true freshman. Fast forward to MSU's game today and he once again showed off his elite passing ability. I unfortunately haven't seen a final box score, but Fears easily was creeping up to a double-digit assist total once again which is something Winston was known for doing every game.

Fears also is elite in the open floor in transition just like Winston was. Pulling up from deep, driving, finishing at the rim, or setting a teammate up was always an option for Winston in transition, and Fears already seems to have this part of his game more than figured out.

The last similarity I see is that Fears knows how to get timely buckets. Whenever Michigan State needed a basket when Winston was on the team, he was able to get it. Countless times he put the team on his back and willed them to victory. Now Fears hasn't had as many chances to showcase this yet, but just today he went on his own 6-0 run to close the game out when Madrid was making a late run.

Now like I said, Fears isn't at the level Winston reached yet, and who knows if he'll get there or not. But it's impossible to ignore the similarities between the two.

Izzo's greatest teams always have an elite point guard running the show, and I fear for the rest of the country because Izzo has found his next great point guard in Fears.