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OU guard Jeremiah Fears rising up NBA Draft boards

Bob Przybyloby:Bob Przybylo•01/03/25•

BPrzybylo

Jeremiah Fears9
OU freshman guard Jeremiah Fears. (Kevin Jairaj - Imagn Images).

OU freshman guard Jeremiah Fears passed the first test of the season. With flying colors, too, when it comes to the initial two months.

Fears has been one of the stories of the country. Reclassifying and igniting a fire within the Sooners. His play a huge reason for the 13-0 start, the best since 1987-88.

Now? Fears gets ready for conference play. Gets ready for the SEC. We’ll all find out together if Fears is tough enough, physically and mentally.

“What is really impressive about Jeremiah he brings a business-like mindset to the gym every day,” senior Jalon Moore said. “Comes in and works hard and puts that time in. That’s been his building block the entire year. Continuing to improve each game. Been impressive to see what he’s done. He’s an aggressive player. Keeping that business-like mindset is going to be important to him.”

That mindset has seen him shoot up the NBA mock drafts. The more updated the mock? The better you see Fears’ position.

Tankathon: No. 14 San Antonio Spurs
The Sporting News: No. 11 San Antonio Spurs
Bleacher Report: No. 4 Charlotte Hornets (comparisons to Russell Westbrook, Jaden Ivey)

Bleacher Report, for example, updated earlier this week. There’s no doubt Fears is on that type of lottery pick trajectory.

But a disturbing trend in Norman the last couple of seasons has been seeing the starting point guard absolutely wilt under the pressure of the conference grind.

It’ll be up to head coach Porter Moser and Fears and Fears’ teammates to keep the trajectory the way it’s going right now.

“To just keep focusing on the job, what he’s doing,” Moser said. “The lack of focus, not by him, but by sometimes guys, they’re thinking of other things. When he’s locked in, and he stays locked in, then he watches extra tape, he’s in there shooting extra shots. He’s physically a physical offensive guard. Those are things that can get you out of rhythm, if you’re not a physical guard. He’s a physical offensive guard.

“Understanding that he is one of our best assist guys, to set up other guys as well. I’m not going to over-take it with him. He does a lot of really good things. We’re going to keep coaching the heck out of him. Keep pushing him. Keep holding him accountable. To his credit, he’s so good with all that. He wants to be great. He wants to be better. I think he’s excited to play the teams we’re going to play. I think he’s excited about that.”

Fears is averaging a team-high 18.1 points, 4.5 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game.

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