The relationship between a coach and a point guard is a complex one. On one hand, the head coach places a lot of trust in his point guard to lead the offense, and on the other, he also receives most of the blame when things don’t go right. The best coach-point guard duos are the ones that have constant communication.
That’s what makes the relationship between Jeremy Fears and Tom Izzo so special.
Even when the two aren’t on the same page, there’s communication and understanding as to where the other is coming from. Izzo has dug into Fears quite a bit, but the All-American point guard has returned fire and that’s how you know Izzo found himself a good one.
The best players to come through East Lansing weren’t afraid to speak up to Izzo and had become extensions of the Hall of Famer on the court. Fears fits right into that description.
So when it came time to enter his name into the NBA draft to get some feedback, Fears was always open and honest with Izzo about his plans. The communication never fell off between Fears, his dad, and Izzo, and that’s something that made Michigan State’s head coach feel confident throughout the process that he’d be getting his star point guard back.
"Just happy to have him (Jeremy Fears Jr.) back and happy to have our whole team back."@wilxTV spoke to Tom Izzo about Fears returning to Michigan State basketball and MSU arriving on campus.
— Owen Oszust (@Owen_Oszust) June 10, 2026
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Izzo is singing a slightly different tune than Fears on the situation, but that’s probably because Jeremy wants to give off the impression that he felt ready for the NBA leap.
While Spartan fans were sweating bullets throughout the process, and especially at the end, Izzo was confident and never felt worried about losing his All-American point guard. I mean, he did try to talk us off the ledge a couple of times by hinting at a Fears return.
We should have listened.
Tom Izzo isn’t ready to get back to work just yet — sort of
After talking about Fears’ return and why he didn’t feel too worried about losing his All-American point guard, Izzo was asked if this means that the season starts now and he responded with a “h*ll no” while laughing it off. He still wants to enjoy the rest of his summer.
Obviously he’s still working and he has some recruiting to do in the 2027 class. He’s also welcoming his newcomers to campus this week so the work never stops.
Izzo says that he wants to enjoy his summer but if that was truly the case, he’d be retired by now. I think he likes getting a few weeks to enjoy up north and sit by the beach but he’s the kind of guy who loves to work. I can’t see him taking much of a break — ever.
Michigan State has its team in place and everyone has made their way to campus. Whether Izzo is ready or not, the quest for a national title in 2026-27 starts now.
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