Tom Izzo didn’t go off on the Spartans following Michigan State’s 84-56 win over Detroit Mercy on Friday night like he did after the San Jose State game last week, and that was because his team showed a much more complete effort outside of a bit of a turnover issue — and some poor 3-point shooting (again).
Instead, Izzo was pretty calm and relaxed on Friday night as the Spartans improved to 5-0 on the season before the Fort Myers Tip-Off where they’ll play East Carolina and North Carolina.
There’s a pretty good chance Michigan State will be flirting with the top-10 in Monday’s AP Top 25 update, and the Spartans should comfortably be 6-0 by the time they face North Carolina. The season has gone far better than planned through five games, and Izzo has to be pleased.
A major reason for all this early success? Sophomore point guard Jeremy Fears Jr.
The second-year point guard from Illinois has done nothing but exceed expectations this season, and it’s crazy what a full season of being healthy followed by an injury-free offseason can do for a player’s development. The growth of Fears from last season to 2025-26 has been noticeable, and there’s talk of him being the second-best point guard in the Big Ten (at least from me).
That growth also hasn’t been lost on Izzo. He was asked about Fears’ past two games where he’s had 24 assists to just three turnovers, and all he did was heap even more praise onto his point guard.
Tom Izzo’s praise for Jeremy Fears Jr. says it all @MSU_Basketball pic.twitter.com/N4nNq238vI
— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) November 22, 2025
The best part? Izzo says he believes that Fears can be even better. He said his defense can be a little better because Izzo says he’s “an absolute dog” on that end of the floor. Izzo expects a lot out of Fears, and he’s always going to expect more because he believes that his point guard is capable of big things.
Fears has been one of the best stories in college basketball this season, going from gunshot victim as a true freshman, to getting a medical redshirt, to shaking off that rust as a redshirt freshman, to now breaking out as a sophomore. He’s also on pace to break some records.
When Izzo calls someone “an absolute dog”, you know that they’re a special player.