OU freshman Jeremiah Fears ready for game No. 2
There was just a little buzz when OU freshman guard Jeremiah Fears checked in for the first time last week. Head coach Porter Moser has done his best not to put the world of expectations, but OU fans are hoping for something special.
If last Monday is a sign? Buckle up and get ready to have some fun. Fears was sensational coming off the bench in his first action.
Going a strong 27 minutes, he finished with 16 points, six assists, five rebounds and two steals. OU had no problems with Lindenwood. The Sooners hope to have more of the same against Northwestern State 7 p.m. Monday.
“I was trying to think when was the last time I had a true high school senior do this,” said Moser about Fears. “Because he classed up. He’s really a true high school senior. So the answer’s no. We’ve had some freshmen come in here. But I don’t want to have a pun here. Please, it’s not a pun. But he really didn’t have much fear coming in here.
“He’s confident, and he’s just gotta continue to learn and grow and do it. But first time out, first time as a college player, he did a lot of good things and we can build on all of it. As a coach, you put that in the bank and you go back. Where can we get better? A lot of things to build on. I can already see a couple areas we’re gonna get better at.”
Fears entered the game, and the first thing he did? He didn’t look for his shot. Instead, his first play as a Sooner is an alley-oop lob dunk to Jalon Moore. It kind of took the pressure off Fears for a bit. Just relax and go play.
You could see his confidence growing with each possession. Moser noticed it, and so did Fears’ teammates.
“He’s tough,” Moore said. “As you can see, he can get downhill. For him to be 17 years old and coming to his first college game and put up those numbers, that speaks for itself.
“It’s a race to maturity. I feel like our younger guys have maturity. Came in and worked and put their head down and confident in their work. I’m proud of the young guys.”
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Between Fears, Duke Miles and Kobe Elvis, a lot of faith in the ball handlers. It’s something Moser has tried to do every year he has been at OU. But it does feel like he might have gotten it right this time around.
Godwin doing the dirty work
You don’t draw up offensive plays for center Sam Godwin. Don’t need to, don’t have to. Godwin will figure it out.
He did again, starting his final season with an 11-point, 15-rebound performance. Not a surprise to Moser.
“He was great at what he’s good at,” Moser said. “And I just think that’s such a key, he’s great at what he’s good at. Tough, rebounding, playing defense.
“It’s so funny, he’s so — he was really mad at that turnover he had, because we were getting him in the pocket and he’s been doing such a good job of reading that, if the guy doesn’t come up, go in there and dunk it. I know he really wanted just to pass, but he had a couple really nice backdoor passes that he’s — when they started overplaying that he’s feeling way more comfortable throwing. You know, he had that assist in the backdoor. Thought he did some really good things.”
Godwin and Moore did a great job of setting the tone and letting the rest of the team breathe and get acclimated in the debut.
