Jeremiah Fears

Fears is the son of Sekia and Jeremy Fears Sr. His father played college basketball at Ohio University, earned Mid-American Conference All-Freshman honors in 2005, and finished his career at Bradley.

His older brother, Jeremy Fears Jr., is the starting point guard at Michigan State. Fears also has siblings named Jamarri and Skylar. Before college, Jeremiah played alongside Jeremy Jr. at Joliet West High School in Illinois.

Fears reclassified into the 2024 recruiting class and joined Oklahoma for the 2024-25 season. He played in all 34 games, starting the final 31, and led the Sooners in scoring, assists, and steals with averages of 17.1 points, 4.1 assists, and 1.6 steals per game. He also averaged 4.1 rebounds and was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team.

He earned Battle 4 Atlantis All-Tournament Team honors after helping Oklahoma win the event, including a 26-point performance against No. 24 Arizona. Fears scored 30 points against No. 24 Michigan and converted a game-winning four-point play with 11 seconds remaining. He later recorded 27 points and 10 assists against No. 21 Mississippi State, then declared for the 2025 NBA draft after the season.

The New Orleans Pelicans selected Fears with the seventh overall pick in the 2025 NBA draft, and he signed his rookie contract on July 5, 2025. He made his regular-season debut against the Memphis Grizzlies, scoring 17 points.

During his rookie season, Fears played in all 82 games and averaged 14.3 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 3.4 assists. He scored a career-high 40 points against the Utah Jazz, setting the Pelicans' rookie single-game scoring record. He also represented the United States at the 2024 FIBA Under-18 AmeriCup, where Team USA won the gold medal.