By SAM LANCE
NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. — Top-30 prospect Jeremiah Fears, once an Illinois commit, decided to change plans and explore other options by recently decommitting from the Fighting Illini on July 1.
But what exactly went into the decision?
“It was just something I talked about with my family,” Fears said. “We felt like it was an opportunity to explore. I feel like I kind of committed early as well. So that was one of the main factors that played a part in that. And then I just felt like there were other options. So we have been exploring other options as of right now.”
Since the decision to decommit from Illinois, the 6-foot-3, 175-pound guard from Compass Prep (AZ) and the Indy Heat Nike EYBL AAU program has had his recruitment heat up with some new schools in contact. Before deciding on Illinois back in January, Fears’ top schools list included Illinois, Kansas, Providence, Michigan and Ole Miss. He is still considering all of them. Other programs such as UConn, Arkansas, Kentucky, Michigan State, Tennessee, Oklahoma and Arizona State have entered the mix as well.
He broke down those programs to ZAGSBLOG:
UConn: “The coach [Dan Hurley] was at our last few games and he said he likes my game. And I like the program. They won two national championships back-to-back. I love the way he coaches.”
Arkansas: “I love coach [John] Calipari, just the way he coaches. And just the high level guys he brings in every year.”
Kentucky: “I talked to [Mark Pope] when I was at USA as well. He seems like a great guy. He just talked about his background, stuff like that. I feel like it will be a school looking forward to in the future. And the program is great.”
Michigan State: “My brother is there [Jeremy Fears Jr]. Coach [Tom] Izzo, great guy. It’s a great program. He [his brother] sometimes talks to me about it but not much.”
Kansas: “I like the coach. I like Bill Self. I like the staff. The facilities are nice. And just the overall environment they have.”
Providence: “Kim English is my guy. He talks to me a lot, he reaches out. And just the facilities when I went and took a visit were nice. I really enjoyed myself.”
Michigan: “Michigan was nice. It’s a new coaching staff. I got to get to know them a little more and just speak briefly with them about playing time, the situation, stuff like that.”
Ole Miss: “Ole Miss reached out. I talked to them. It was nothing serious. It was just about getting me down to come for a visit. So yeah.”
Tennessee: “We talk about the guard position they have, stuff like that.”
Oklahoma: “Just seeing the opportunity they would have, stuff like that. Porter Moser is a great guy. He reached out, called me twice. He was just basically telling me the opportunity, about the facilities and that they wanted me to come down for a visit.”
Arizona State: “They want me to come down for a visit. I live in Arizona so I’ve seen the campus quite a bit. I might still take a visit.”
Several of these coaches were in to see Fears at Peach Jam including Hurley, Calipari, Pope, Izzo, Self, English, Moser, Dusty May, Chris Beard, and Rick Barnes. Specifically, several of these coaches were seen courtside for Fears’ Sunday game against vs. the PSA Cardinals. Fears dropped 20 points in a 70-64 win.
Before making a decision Fears visited Illinois, Tennessee, Michigan and Providence officially. The Michigan visit was with the old Michigan staff, however, and the new staff has not offered Fears yet. All of the other schools above have offered.
As for upcoming officials?
“Nothing serious as of visits yet I’m just taking my time with that,” Fears said. “Most likely after Peach I’ll take my time and just explore all the campuses. Last time around I only went to like four schools. So just taking my time and trying to see as much schools as possible.”
Fears is being recruited as a class of 2024 and 2025 prospect by programs. He isn’t sure if he’ll end up reclassifying or not.
“I’ve had conversations with my mom and my dad about it,” Fears said. “They aren’t completely sure, but I think they’ll probably know either after Peach or like late August, early September.”
The main factor in that decision will just be seeing what opportunities schools have, according to Fears.
In his most recent Peach Jam game, Fears scored 20 points in a nail-biting 71-69 win over Bradley Beal Elite. He had three four-point plays in the contest, and was shown some love from Bradley Beal himself after the game.
Fears is ranked the No. 32 prospect in the class of 2025 by 247Sports and the No. 2 player coming out of Arizona. His brother, Jeremy Fears Jr., is a former five-star recruit and will be a sophomore at Michigan State next season. Follow Sam Lance on Twitter Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter Follow ZAGSBLOGHoops on Instagram And Like ZAGS on FacebookJeremiah Fears received some love from Bradley Beal postgame.
— Sam Lance (@slancehoops) July 17, 2024
Fears had 20 pts, 4 rebs, 4 ast to help take down Beal’s 17u program. Thrilling game.@RealDealBeal23 @jeremiahfears2 pic.twitter.com/pVvtAn9jSw
