Jeremy Fears Jr.: Leading on the court and in the locker room for Michigan State

It is no secret that Michigan State's Jeremy Fears Jr. has been under the microscope recently due to some of his on-court moments with opposing Big Ten teams. However, throughout all the noise, what remains is a team leader who has been granted trust by MSU head coach Tom Izzo.

When Fears is playing his best basketball, the rest of the Spartans tend to follow.

Looking at Fears' recent performances further demonstrates his importance to this Michigan State team. The chart below Illustrates what Fears has accomplished over the past 13 games (since the calendar turned to 2026) in terms of points, assists and minutes played. The green highlight shows an MSU win, while the red highlight represents a loss for the Spartans.

Caption: Jeremy Fears Jr. from Jan. 2 through Feb. 17.

Since the beginning of January, Fears is averaging 19 points and nine assists per game. In total, Fears has recorded 241 assists already on the 2025-2027 season. Numbers often speak for themselves in the game of basketball, but something that has been lost to online scrutiny is the role that Fears plays in teaching and uplifting his teammates. During this most recent roller coaster of Big Ten play, including losses to Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin, Fears has remained the leader both on the court in the locker room that his teammates look to for direction.

"I don't think we really had a lot of down moments," Fears shared earlier this week.