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Michigan State

Tom Izzo doubles down on support for Jeremy Fears Jr. after technical foul vs. Michigan

Byington mugby: Alex Byington03/09/26_AlexByington

Jeremy Fears Jr. seems to be garnering a reputation after another questionable incident in which the veteran Michigan State guard received a technical foul for making unnecessary contact with the groin area of Michigan‘s Elliot Cadeau early in Sunday night’s 90-80 loss in Ann Arbor. The foul occurred with 14:24 left in the opening half when Fears’ right leg appeared to kick back into Cadeau’s nether region after Cadeau knocked Fears off balance with a push to the back.

But to hear longtime Spartans head coach Tom Izzo tell it, Fears was the real victim in the situation, which was initially ruled a personal foul against Cadeau before a technical foul was later assessed following an official review of the play. In fact, the 71-year-old Izzo effusively praised Fears’ effort since receiving a public and private castigation in early February after previous incidents against Minnesota and Illinois.

“I’m not talking about that. You know what, I don’t think he did anything on purpose,” Izzo said during a postgame press conference, via Field of 68. “I think it was a reaction. I don’t know the whole deal about it. It was a critical play, as they all are. But I thought Jeremy Fears played his ass off 99% of that game. And you know what, I did what I was going to do, I chewed him out for it. But I watched it on tape and the guy’s pushing him in back, and sometimes that stuff happens, you know.”

CBS rules analyst Gene Steratore suggested game officials ultimately ruled it a technical foul due to the “unnatural movement of Fears’ leg” during the official review. But after doing his own video review, Izzo suggested the officials are unfairly singling Fears out due to past incidents.

“I’m sick of it being one-sided, though. That’s what upset me about the first time,” Izzo continued. “So Fears will get his lunch from me, I wonder if some of their guys will get their lunch from what happened in the first game that didn’t get public. But I don’t condone anything. I don’t think he tried to kick him on purpose, if you watch it, it was like (the official) didn’t even know he did it and then probably said, ‘Oh, that’s Fears, let’s go.’ Don’t condone it, don’t know exactly what happened except he did get pushed in the back, which is why he got the foul.

“And you know what, Fears has done a hell of a job since getting publicly reprimanded by everybody, he’s done a hell of a job,” Izzo concluded. “Nobody’s tougher on him than me. Nobody will be tougher on him than me. And I was proud of the way he played and maybe not proud of that one incident, I don’t know, but gang, this is a physical sport, it’s a physical sport, and that’s how it works.”

Fears responded after the technical foul, scoring 22 points while going 10-of-12 from the free throw line and adding a team-high nine assists Sunday against Michigan. Fears leads the No. 8 Spartans (25-6, 15-5 Big Ten), which enter next week’s Big Ten Tournament as the No. 3 seed, averaging 15.3 points and 9.1 assists per game this season.