Jeremiah Fears declares for NBA Draft after stellar freshman season

After one season with the Sooners, Jeremiah Fears has declared for the NBA Draft and is expected to be the first lottery pick out of Oklahoma since Trae Young in 2018.

In June, Fears decommitted from Illinois and reclassified from the 2025 class to the 2024 class. In July, Fears picked Oklahoma, becoming the school's highest-rated recruit since the now-Atlanta Hawks star, Young.

Heading into the season, there were a lot of expectations surrounding Fears — all of which he lived up to. Even in the first month of the season, it was clear that Porter Moser and the Sooners had a star on their roster.

Fears led the Sooners to a 13-0 non-conference start and provided a plethora of exciting moments along the way. It started in Nassau, where he led Oklahoma to a Battle 4 Atlantis Championship, scoring 24 points against Arizona and 20 points against Providence.

His best moment of the non-conference slate occurred in Charlotte at the Jumpman Invitational against Michigan, where he scored 30 points on 8-12 shooting from the field and 3-4 shooting from behind the arc. Oklahoma won that game 87-86, thanks to a heroic four-point play from Fears.

It was that moment against Michigan where the national crowd realized what those at Oklahoma, those in his hometown of Joliet, Illinois, AZ Compass Prep — where he played his junior season of high school ball — and many others had seen: Fears is a special talent, and that four-point play made everyone take notice.

At the end of non-conference play, Fears led the Sooners in both scoring (18.1 points per game) and assists (4.5 per game) while shooting 50% from the field. After three games of SEC play, he averaged 10.3 points per game and 3.6 assists per game while shooting just 29% from the field, 17% from the 3-point line, and 69% from the free throw line.

Then, Fears followed that rough three-game stretch with 20 points and five rebounds against Texas, 16 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists against South Carolina, and 16 points and five rebounds against Arkansas.

He then had a rough five-game stretch as opposing defenses keyed in on him. However, he finished the season exceptionally strong, proving that he deserves to be a lottery pick and was one of the best freshmen guards in the country.

The Sooners went from 3-9 in conference play to 6-12 with a win in the SEC Tournament, and a big reason for that was Fears’ impressive play. Over the last five conference games and the two SEC Tournament games, Fears averaged 22.7 points, 5.5 assists, 4.5 rebounds, and 1.5 steals. He found himself playing his best basketball at the right time.