There aren’t many point guards in American who are as good as Jeremy Fears Jr. A prominent college basketball analyst disagrees, apparently.
The Michigan State point guard is in his third season but still has two years of eligibility remaining because he was granted a medical redshirt after suffering a gunshot wound to the leg as a true freshman, ending his season in December.
Now Fears is a redshirt sophomore and he’s playing like one of the best players in American.
There’s been plenty of talk about him being a shoo-in for the All-Big Ten first team and potentially even the All-American first team. It would be pretty shocking if he wasn’t at least on the All-Big Ten first team because he and Braden Smith are considered the 1-2 point guards in the league.
That is unless you ask college hoops and Big Ten Network analyst Mike DeCourcy
DeCourcy and fellow Big Ten Network analyst Rapheal Davis ranked their top three point guards in the Big Ten, and Fears didn’t appear on one list. That list belonged to DeCourcy.
— Jordan Stocks (@StockTalks21) February 24, 2026
I mean, what are we doing? I can see Smith and Keaton Wagler being included on the list because both have been playing at All-American levels, too, and even Bruce Thornton and Bennett Stirtz have as well, but Fears is easily a better all-around player than all but one player on that list. There’s an argument to be had about him and Smith.
There’s anti-Fears propaganda is apparently spreading.
Comparing Jeremy Fears to the rest of the listed PGs
I thought it would be fun to break down just how well Fears compares to guys like Thornton, Wagler, Smith, and Stirtz. I had a feeling he was every bit as good, if not better than the bunch.
Let’s go by the numbers.
Player | Points | Assists | Steals | FG % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Jeremy Fears | 15.0 | 9.2 | 1.3 | 43.0% |
Braden Smith | 14.9 | 8.7 | 1.9 | 47.5% |
Keaton Wagler | 18.2 | 4.3 | 0.9 | 45.6% |
Bennett Stirtz | 20.6 | 4.5 | 1.6 | 51.1% |
Bruce Thornton | 20.4 | 3.9 | 0.9 | 50.8% |
As you can see, Fears, like Smith, is pretty well above average in every category. He’s the best passer in the country at 9.2 assists per game and he’s averaging 15 which is more than Smith.
Fears has had to take on a scoring role this season even though he’s not necessarily a shoot-first point guard. He is still improving as a shooter, and he’s began to realize he can blow by everyone down the lane, getting to the rim and drawing fouls. He’s also the 15th-best free throw shooter in the country and second-best in the Big Ten.
Michigan State is not 22-5 without him and he may just be the most valuable player in college basketball this season. He is absolutely 100 percent a top three point guard in the Big Ten — and he’s not Nos. 2 or 3, in my opinion.