Jeremiah Fears looks like an NBA star in the making at Oklahoma

Jeremiah Fears must be thinking about who he wants to take to prom right now. Fears, who celebrated his birthday on Oct. 19, was a member of the high school class of 2025 before finalizing a bold plan to reclassify after a standout run on the Nike EYBL circuit over the summer.

“My goal is to play in the NBA,” Fiers told ESPN the day he committed to Oklahoma. It was a goal I couldn't wait to get.

Fears originally enrolled at Illinois State, a state school in his hometown of Joliet, about 75 miles southwest of Chicago. The Illini had planned for Fiers to come to campus in the 2025-26 season, but they have already signed Kylan Boswell, a transfer from Arizona, and acquired Lithuanian point guard Kasparas Jaksionis in May, so this season Actually there was no spot for him.

As the Fiers resumed their recruiting efforts, he continued to rely on local connections. Oklahoma head coach Porter Moser grew up near Naperville and rose to national prominence in 2018 by leading Loyola Chicago to the Final Four. Staff assistant Armon Gates is also from Chicago and knew Fiers' father from his playing days.

Most importantly, the Sooners had an opening at point guard and were willing to let Fiers, one of the youngest players in college basketball, lead the offense. Fiers knew if he was going to be considered for the 2025 NBA Draft, he had to show scouts what he could do with the ball in his hands.

A few months later, Oklahoma is now 11-0 to start the season and is one of only four undefeated teams in the country. Fiers, who was nowhere to be found on early NBA big boards entering the season, is now establishing himself as a likely lottery pick — and maybe much more. Everything is going according to plan for this young guard, and he's just starting to scratch the surface of what he could someday become.

Fiers always appeared to be taller than his older brother Jeremy Fiers, currently a sophomore point guard at Michigan State University. It wasn't until this year that his growth spurt really started to take off.

After measuring 6'1 barefoot at Nike Elite 100 camp in the summer of 2023, Fiers is currently listed at 6'4 at Oklahoma and checks all of those boxes. Now blessed with size for his NBA position, Fiers has performed all year as one of the brightest guards in the country despite being one of the youngest guards.

The Fiers were at their best in their first match against a top-ranked team on Wednesday night. Playing against Michigan on a neutral floor in Charlotte, the freshman guard consistently ripped apart the Wolverines' defense off the dribble, punishing him every time he went under a screen. With the Sooners trailing by three points in the final minutes, Fiers sprinted to get the ball off the dribble handoff, making a 3-pointer from within NBA range and fouling out. He hit the free throw and won the game.

Fiers scored 30 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the floor, 3-of-4 from 3-point range, and 11-of-13 from the foul line. Although he struggled with turnovers (5), he added 4 assists and 3 rebounds in the win.

The University of Oklahoma clearly has faith in one of the nation's youngest players, leading the team to an undefeated start. Fears has the highest usage rate among DI freshmen at 32.9 percent. With that in mind, that number is slightly higher than Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Luka Doncic's numbers this season, and only second among NBA players behind Giannis Antetokounmpo and LaMelo Ball.

Despite carrying such a heavy workload for the Sooners, the Fiers operate with incredible efficiency. He has a perfect shooting percentage of 62.9% and is one of 11 players in the country with a usage rate above 30 and a TS% above 60. The only other freshman in the country to accomplish this is presumptive No. 2 pick Dylan Harper. Fiers ranks higher than him in both categories.

Fiers is shooting 57.3 percent from 2-point range and 34.1 percent from 3-point range, both of which are solid. His efficiency is largely determined by his ability to get to the foul line. His 57.7 free throw average is impressive for a freshman guard, and he shoots 85.9 percent from the charity stripe.

Despite his excellent shooting touch, he rarely feels uneasy about jumpers with the ball in his hands. He likes going downhill, so he exhibits tight steering, speed change ability, and overall shiftability. Even though he is young, it is impressive that he does not shy away from contact. He's not the type of guard to dunk over his head, but he has real explosiveness before and after the crossover when attacking the basket.

Fiers' playmaking is also improving. His 32.2 assist percentage ranks 56th in the country. Only three other freshmen currently have an assist percentage of 32 percent, including future lottery pick Jaksionis and BYU's Egor Demin (the other is Baylor's Robert Wright III).

Fiers already knows how to use his scoring gravity to create easy scoring opportunities for his teammates. He rarely panics with the ball in his hands, dribbling until a passing lane is open. Lead guards seem to be born with a level of passing vision that can't really be learned or coached, but Fiers has it.

If Fiers continues to develop as a shooter, he will be one of the top prospects in the NBA, and there are plenty of reasons to believe in his shot. It's encouraging to see him hitting 34 percent from three and 86 percent early in his career. The team wants him to make at least 7.5 threes per 100 possessions, which is lower than Harper or Jaksionis, but his hesitation isn't due to a lack of confidence; Rather, it seems to be an obsession with reaching the cup.

Of the 14 threes Fiers has made this year, half have been his own. If you go under the screen, he'll let it fly.

Having a decent midrange game is also important for a guard like Fiers, and there are some positive signs there as well. Fiers is shooting 41.4 percent from non-paint points this year, but none of his shots were assisted.

He knows how to connect dribbling moves to keep defenders off balance before launching an attack. The fact that he's as adept at creating space with his handles and arm strength is impressive for a player who just turned 18.

One of the clearest indicators of future improvement is a young player's high steal rate. The concerns shined there as well, with his 4.6 percent steal rate ranking 50th in the country and third among all freshman guards behind Baylor's VJ Edgecomb, a future lottery pick, and Vanderbilt's Tyler Tanner. It has become.

Oklahoma faces a fairly soft schedule so far. That's about to change in the program's first season in the SEC. Top-10 matchups at Alabama, Auburn, at home at Tennessee and Florida, and at home at Kentucky will highlight the early 2025 schedule.

If Fiers keeps this up, there should be no cap on his potential draft stock. Currently, Cooper Flagg and Dylan Harper are solid favorites to go No. 1 and No. 2 overall in the 2025 NBA Draft, but no player has emerged as a consensus candidate for the No. 3 overall pick. Fear can get you there.

Horror numbers scream out the stars upside down. Having a very high usage rate while also being an efficient scorer with a high assist rate and high steal rate is attractive to any prospect, especially one who would still be in high school right now. Impressive. The best indicator of turnaround is being really productive against older competitors at a very young age. Fear has it nailed for now. If he continues to do so despite the tough schedule, his dream of becoming an NBA lottery pick will become a reality this summer.

Fiers and his family had a vision for his future when he first started considering a change in rank. That's now coming to fruition, with Oklahoma State now undefeated.