OU basketball’s Jeremiah Fears ‘playing his best’ for NCAA Tournament

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Following OU’s emotional one-point loss to Kentucky in the second round of the SEC Tournament, Jeremiah Fears sat dejected in front of his locker at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.

The Sooners’ star freshman point guard nearly willed his team to a miraculous comeback, dropping 28 points and scoring the go-ahead bucket with 5.6 seconds remaining. His disappointment was short-lived, however, as he reflected on the fight OU showed after being down 10 points with 1:20 remaining.

“There’s a lot of basketball left for us,” Fears said then. “We’re taking the next game and approaching it the same way we approached these games.” 

When it was announced the Sooners had punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2020-21 season, it came in large part due to Fears’ sensational campaign. As a reclassified true freshman, Fears — who otherwise would be enjoying spring break of his senior year of high school this month — finished the regular season with 29 double-digit scoring appearances.

Outside of Duke’s Cooper Flagg, the projected top overall pick in the NBA draft, Fears is the only freshman nationally to average at least 17 points, four rebounds, four assists and 1.5 steals per game on the season. No. 9-seeded OU faces a tough task matching up with defending back-to-back national champion No. 8-seeded UConn in the first round Friday in Raleigh, North Carolina.

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But there’s a belief guard play defines how teams will perform in March Madness. With Fears, OU has one of the most electric playmakers in the field.

“His growth,” said Sooners coach Porter Moser when asked what impresses him about Fears’ play. “We’ve talked many times about the journey of his age being thrown into, no question, the No. 1 league of all time. To be thrown in that way, in a league where there are so many older people, all…

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Publish date : 2025-03-19 10:31:00

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