Jeremy Fears Jr. is facing the biggest decision of his life: should he stay in the 2026 NBA Draft and risk being drafted in the second round or will he come back to Michigan State for his junior year and boost his draft stock into the first round next year?
That’s the million-dollar question on everyone’s minds heading into the final week of May, but with the draft approaching in late-June, time is running out on a decision.
So when does Fears have to decide by?
According to ESPN, the NBA draft deadline for players who are looking to return to college basketball is May 27 at 11:59 p.m. ET. That means that Fears has until Wednesday at midnight to withdraw his name from the NBA draft and return to Michigan State or decide to keep his name in and hope that a team takes a chance on him.
Time is running out and we’re getting down to the final hours of Fears’ decision-making process, but I’d be shocked if he did anything but return to Michigan State.
Michigan State’s 2026-27 season hinges on this decision
Keeping Fears for at least one more season has to be a priority for Tom Izzo, especially since he lost Divine Ugochukwu to the transfer portal and eventually Will Wade (yuck) and LSU.
If Fears leaves, Michigan State’s backcourt will be in an even worse spot than it was this past season when Denham Wojcik was playing meaningful minutes down the stretch. Throwing Carlos Medlock Jr. to the wolves immediately isn’t something Izzo wants to do, but he’d be forced to if his All-American point guard decides to take a huge risk and go pro.
The last time a situation exactly like this one happened for Izzo and the Spartans, Marcus Taylor bet on himself and lost in 2002 as he broke out as a sophomore but wasn’t considered a top draft prospect. He left anyways and was drafted late in the second round and never caught on in the NBA.
That should be the perfect precedent for Fears to reference when he’s making this decision, especially since the two teams he’s publicly worked out for are picking No. 1 and No. 10. OK, so one of the teams is also picking No. 51 and No. 60, but Fears said he would only leave if he was given a first-round grade.
Again, I’d be shocked if Fears remained in the draft, but crazier things have happened. He has until Wednesday night to decide.
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